What has Mark Zuckerberg done?
Mark Zuckerberg is an American billionaire, technology entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is most famously known as the founder of the social networking site, Facebook. Having founded the site in Harvard college with his co-founder Eduardo Saverin and roommates Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes, the company went from being a small website in 2004 to one of the largest online social networks ever seen.
Due to his success, Forbes listed him as the fifth-richest person in the world in 2018 and 2020, worth an estimated $75 billion as of August 2020. He is also one of the “Big Five” tech billionaires, alongside Jeff Bezos, Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Steve Ballmer.
Zuckerberg is also a philanthropist and charitable donor, having signed The Giving Pledge in 2010, whereby he agreed to give the majority of his wealth to philanthropic causes. In 2013, he and his wife launched the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, an organization dedicated to tackling global challenges such as health, education and energy access.
As Facebook’s CEO, Zuckerberg has also implemented various strategies since taking over the firm which has gone a long way to improving and establishing the company as one of the most influential technology entities. To improve the company’s governance structure, Zuckerberg proposed the creation of two classes of stock, Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock, in 2012.
The CEO has also taken numerous other initiatives such as investing in long-term initiatives including research and development, new technologies, and acquisitions. He has also employed different marketing strategies to increase user engagement on the website. In 2012, Zuckerberg announced the launch of Facebook Phone, which allowed users to make phone calls, send messages, and access the mobile website from their phones.
In an effort to increase user privacy, Zuckerberg made extensive changes to the website’s user agreement in 2014 and implemented new forms of data collection and handling practices. Moreover, in an effort to provide a more secure, uninterrupted service, the CEO also changed Facebook’s internal processes and improved its software architecture.
Zuckerberg has made important changes to the company’s leadership team as well, with new executives and advisors joining the firm over the years. He has been credited with solidifying the company’s corporate culture and setting a good example for other technology companies.
Recent activism
In recent years, Zuckerberg has taken a more active role in addressing certain social and political issues. In 2019, he announced his intention to donate up to $100 million towards improving relationships between local police departments and the communities they serve. In the same year, he also publicly announced his support for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a policy which protects young immigrants from deportation.
Following the death of George Floyd, Zuckerberg wrote an open letter to Facebook employees detailing his views on racism and racial justice. In the letter, he announced that the company was donating $10 million to various organizations and initiatives related to police reform and racial justice.
The CEO has also spoken out against hate speech, disinformation, and foreign interference in democratic processes. In 2018, he announced the introduction of Privacy-Focused Vision for Social Networking, a program that sought to ensure that Facebook’s services promoted privacy, transparency and accountability.
In 2020, he revealed Facebook’s efforts to tackle voter suppression, after the company launched a voter information center on the site. This tool includes a combined list of 6 million organizations and additional resources for local elections.
Zuckerberg’s Philosophy on Education
Zuckerberg has a strong belief that everyone should have the opportunity to pursue higher education and become successful. As a result of this philosophy, he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have been striving to create efforts to improve education systems around the world. As part of this effort, the couple launched a $50 million initiative to equip middle and high school students with technological resources, such as laptops and tablets, back in 2018.
The same year, the organization announced an additional $30 million commitment to enhance computer science education in underserved communities. In addition, the Chan Zuckerberg Education initiative has also launched a toolkit designed to help teachers provide more personalized learning experiences for their students.
The couple has also spoken out against the U.S. college system, stating that it needs to focus more on the quality of students’ education and less on just enabling them to get into college. They have also invested in a program which helps low-income students apply for college.
Apart from supporting education systems around the world, the couple have also managed to invest in different causes such as cleaning up oceans, fighting Ebola and malaria, assisting veterans and their families, treating opioid addiction and providing housing for homeless people.
Charitable donations
Mark Zuckerberg’s philanthropic efforts have not just been limited to education. He has been very vocal in his support of charitable donations and has personally donated to many non-profit organisations. In 2014, he donated $20 million to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to fight the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
He donated another $45 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) later in the same year, while in 2016 he gave $25 million to San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, to fund necessary infrastructure upgrades. Through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Zuckerberg and Chan have also provided grants to organisations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and The San Francisco Foundation.
In total, Zuckerberg’s charitable donations amount to more than $1.5 billion. This includes a recent pledge of $100 million to support historically black colleges and universities across the United States. The donation is intended to help the institutions become more affordable for students and enhance their endowments.
Criticisms
Despite his impressive accomplishments and donations, Zuckerberg has also received criticism due to the practices of Facebook and its lack of privacy. He has been accused of allowing misinformation and fake news to spread on the platform, of allowing foreign governments to interfere in elections and of mishandling user data.
He was also heavily criticized after the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which millions of Facebook users had their data misused by the political consulting firm. As a result, the CEO had to testify in front of multiple Congressional hearings.
However, despite these allegations, Zuckerberg has maintained his position as both Facebook’s CEO and chairman, and has retained a majority of the voting power in the company. This power has allowed him to make decisions quickly and with few checks and balances, a move which has resulted in further scrutiny from the public.
In 2020, Zuckerberg added two independent directors to Facebook’s board, suggesting that he is attempting to increase transparency and add more checks and balances to his decisions.
Personal life
Mark Zuckerberg lives with his wife, Priscilla Chan, and two children, Maxima and August, in Palo Alto, California. The family has a net worth estimated to be $70 billion.
The couple first met at Harvard and have been together ever since. They married in 2012 and have been embarking on philanthropic efforts to improve the world ever since. Together, they manage the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, housing their philanthropic goals, with a strict focus on advancing human potential and promoting equality.
The couple has also taken a strong stance against racism, sexism, and other forms of intolerance. They have encouraged people to support initiatives that focus on achieving justice and equity, such as voting and protesting Discrimination, and have also worked with organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union to promote these initiatives.
Zuckerberg and Chan have also made a commitment to leading an environmentally-friendly lifestyle. The couple has pledged to donate 100 percent of their Facebook shares to charity and have purchased sustainable energy sources for their estate.
Conclusion
Mark Zuckerberg is an accomplished entrepreneur, philanthropist, and innovator. He is well-known for his success in creating and managing the leading social networking website, Facebook. He has also taken a personal interest in a variety of social causes, making charitable donations to numerous organisations. In addition, he has taken a strong stance against racism, sexism, and other forms of intolerance, and has worked on improving education systems around the world.
