Mark Zuckerberg, social media magnate and the founder of Facebook, is an American entrepreneur who left Harvard just 12 credits short of completing his degree when he dropped out to focus exclusively on the network that he had created with his roommates. That was back in 2004, when Zuckerberg was a 19 year old sophomore.
The question of when Zuckerberg graduated from college has certainly caused much speculation over the years. Zuckerberg famously left Harvard to focus on Facebook in his sophomore year as mentioned above, but he has not posted a diploma on the wall of his office, or publicly announced the date of his completion of his degree.
In 2017, the Harvard Crimson reported that Zuckerberg had not officially graduated from Harvard. According the college newspaper, Zuckerberg attended classes up until the May 2004 commencement without actually graduating, despite being marked as “left college”.
However, Zuckerberg finally did return to Harvard in May 2017 to deliver a commencement speech, and although he admitted that he was too embarrassed to ever go back to the campus, he did so in order to receive an honorary degree. He also used his return to help Harvard remember their motto, dictate his wisdom to the graduating class and tell a couple of jokes.
The college promised to confer an honorary Doctor of Laws degree to Zuckerberg when he spoke, a degree that the university says he wasn’t eligible for until he was meeting his second graduation requirement, which is 25 years after a student officially leaves the school. The college reportedly noted in a statement that the May 2017 commencement ceremonies would mark the official graduation of Mark Zuckerberg from Harvard.
It is to be noted that Zuckerberg did not drop out to focus exclusively on Facebook for the network’s initial success. While the idea was born at Harvard, the most initial success was seen from the headquarters of Palo Alto, California, when he and his roommates developed the initial product that allowed users to create personalized profiles.
The site attracted over 1,000 users in six months, and Microsoft, Yahoo and Google all wanted to acquire it. Eventually Zuckerberg made the decision to stay independent, and by 2006, Facebook had acquired rapid global popularity and it was estimated to be worth $15 billion.
Accolades
In the years following its founding, Facebook kept growing quickly, and in 2007, Harvard acknowledged Zuckerberg’s success with the Harvard University 2012 Exemplar Award. Reports suggest that, despite never officially graduating, Zuckerberg’s Hall of Residence remained ‘Zuckerberg Hall’ but was changed to Mather Hall in 2017, before Zuckerberg returned for his commencement address.
From leaving Harvard, to joining the world’s billionaires list in 2008, Zuckerberg has come a long way and is considered to be one of the leading figures in the social media business world. He is reported to be the youngest billionaire in the world today, and as of April 2021, his net worth is estimated to be over 100 billion dollars.
In addition, Zuckerberg also co-founded the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative in 2016. This program aims to develop a fleet of light-propelled nanocrafts to get to our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri. The ultimate goal of this program is to develop the technology necessary for inter-solar-system travel.
Legacy
Today, Mark Zuckerberg is often held up as an example of great visionary leadership, having created one of the most transformative companies in history, and achieved great wealth and success from it. He is respected world-wide for his work and contributions to the tech industry, which is why Braintree CEO Bill Ready once said that Zuckerberg was “the undisputed king amongst entrepreneurs”.
As one of the youngest but most successful and influential entrepreneurs in the business world today, the 36 year old Zuckerberg stands as an example of the capabilities of the human potential. He is a man who dropped out of college just 12 credits short of graduating, only to be back and unofficially-officially graduate years later.
Philanthropy
In addition to his considerable success in the business world, Zuckerberg is a prominent philanthropist as well. He founded the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in 2015 as a means to advance human potential and promote equality in areas such as health, education and science. The initiative has donated more than $200 million in grants to non-profit organisations and has also developed products to solve global health issues.
In 2010, Zuckerberg signed the Giving Pledge and identified himself as one of the world’s youngest billionaires who had dedicated at least 50 percent of his income to charity. Since then, he and his wife Priscilla Chan have made numerous corporate and personal donations, totalling more than $2 billion.
At the 2018 F8 Developer Conference, Zuckerberg made an announcement that Facebook would be investing over $3 billion in the next decade to build cutting-edge technologies that could transform the world. Specifically, the aim is to develop virtual reality, internet connectivity and artificial intelligence.
Business Ventures
Besides Facebook, Zuckerberg is the co-founder of several other business ventures as well. He co-founded internet.org in 2013, a charitable organisation that provided free internet access to people living in underdeveloped countries, and later renamed it to free basics in 2015. Zuckerberg is also the co-founder of Asana, a software company that provides task and project management tools.
Additionally, Zuckerberg co-founded Fwd.us in 2013, a non-profit organisation focused on immigration policy reform and education policy reform. Furthermore, he is actively involved in Facebook’s investment fund, which includes Facebook FWD, an initiative to help small businesses that were affected by the pandemic.
Investment Projects
Zuckerberg and Chan invested in London start-up Monzo, which is a mobile-only bank, in May 2020, investing in the company through their venture fund, The Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative. In addition, they have made investments in the global food delivery company, DoorDash, in San Francisco-based genealogy test 23andMe, and the parking app SpotHero.
Mark Zuckerberg has also invested in artificial intelligence startups, including Vili, a health tracking startup, Gecko Robotics, a Pittsburgh-based company which designs robots used in industrial inspections, Aspira Labs, a biometric sensor startup, and PatternEx, a machine learning focused cybersecurity solution.
He has also invested in a number of other cutting-edge technology companies, such as Doctable, a patient appointment scheduling software, LISNR, a data-over-sound technology, and Banjo, a virtual assistant for the blind and visually impaired.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Mark Zuckerberg has had an incredible and successful journey, despite never officially graduating from Harvard. He has been recognised for his success in the business world, and also for his philanthropy and investments. It can certainly be said that he is an example of the kind of power and wealth that can be unleashed when one leverages his or her creativity, ambition and hard work.
