Rise to Success: Career Highlights of Mark Zuckerberg

From career breakthroughs to professional milestones, explore how Mark Zuckerberg made an impact.

Mark Zuckerberg is an American businessman best known as the co-founder, chairman, CEO, and controlling shareholder of Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook). He launched Facebook, a social media service, which grew to become a global phenomenon. Zuckerberg's career has been marked by both immense success and controversy, including lawsuits concerning the website's creation and ownership, as well as debates surrounding user privacy and data handling practices. Despite these challenges, he remains a prominent figure in the technology industry and a driving force behind Meta's ventures.

Sections (7)

Full Timeline Early Life & Education Career & Achievements Success & Recognition Challenges & Struggles Controversies & Scandals Legacy & Impact

January 2004: Starts Writing Code for Thefacebook

In January 2004, Zuckerberg began writing code for a new website that would become Thefacebook.

February 4, 2004: Thefacebook Launched

On February 4, 2004, Mark Zuckerberg launched "Thefacebook", originally located at thefacebook.com, in partnership with his roommates.

February 2004: Facebook Launched

In February 2004, Mark Zuckerberg, along with his roommates, launched Facebook while attending Harvard College.

August 2004: Wirehog Launched

In August 2004, Zuckerberg, Andrew McCollum, Adam D'Angelo, and Sean Parker launched a competing peer-to-peer file sharing service called Wirehog.

2004: Moves to Palo Alto

In 2004, Zuckerberg, Moskovitz, and other co-founders moved to Palo Alto, California, where they leased a small house that served as an office and Zuckerberg met Peter Thiel, who invested in the company.

2007: Facebook Platform Applications Launched

In 2007, Facebook Platform applications was launched.

2007: Zuckerberg on Information Flow

In 2007, Zuckerberg explained his reasoning for turning down offers to sell Facebook, stating that creating an open information flow for people was the most important thing.

2008: Becomes Youngest Self-Made Billionaire

In 2008, at the age of 23, Zuckerberg became the world's youngest self-made billionaire.

April 2009: Seeks Advice from Peter Currie

In April 2009, Zuckerberg sought the advice of former Netscape CFO Peter Currie regarding financing strategies for Facebook.

July 21, 2010: Facebook Reaches 500 Million Users

On July 21, 2010, Zuckerberg reported that Facebook had reached the 500-million-user mark.

September 2010: Zuckerberg Pledges $100 Million to Newark Public Schools

In September 2010, with the support of Governor Chris Christie, Cory Booker obtained a $100 million pledge from Mark Zuckerberg for Newark Public Schools.

2010: Zuckerberg on Hacking

In 2010, Steven Levy wrote that Zuckerberg "clearly thinks of himself as a hacker" and Zuckerberg said that "it's OK to break things" "to make them better".

2011: Advice from Steve Jobs

In 2011, shortly after Steve Jobs' death, Zuckerberg said that Jobs had advised him on how to create a management team at Facebook.

May 2012: Facebook Goes Public

In May 2012, Zuckerberg took Facebook public with majority shares.

October 1, 2012: Meeting with Dmitry Medvedev

On October 1, 2012, Zuckerberg met with then Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow to stimulate social media innovation in Russia and to boost Facebook's position in the Russian market.

December 2012: Zuckerberg Donates Shares to Silicon Valley Community Foundation

In December 2012, Mark Zuckerberg donated 18 million shares to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a community organization that includes education in its grant-making areas.

April 6, 2013: Home Promotional Campaign Exposure

On April 6, 2013, Rebecca Van Dyck, Facebook's head of consumer marketing, said that 85 million American Facebook users were exposed to the first day of the Home promotional campaign.

September 2013: Internet Coverage Expansion Goal

In September 2013, at the TechCrunch conference, Zuckerberg discussed his goal of expanding Internet coverage into developing countries.

2013: Internet.org Launched

In 2013, Zuckerberg launched Internet.org, an initiative to provide Internet access to the five billion people without it as of the launch date.

2013: Goal to Connect 5 Billion People to Facebook

In 2013, at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference, Zuckerberg stated that he was working towards registering the 5 billion people who were not connected to the Internet as of the conference on Facebook.

March 2014: Keynote Speaker at Mobile World Congress

In March 2014, Zuckerberg was the keynote speaker at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, where he discussed Facebook's focus on mobile technology.

October 23, 2014: Q&A Session at Tsinghua University

On October 23, 2014, Zuckerberg participated in a Q&A session at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, where he conversed in Mandarin Chinese.

December 8, 2014: Meeting with Lu Wei at Facebook HQ

On December 8, 2014, Zuckerberg hosted visiting Chinese politician Lu Wei, at Facebook's headquarters.

December 11, 2014: Live Q&A Session at Facebook HQ

On December 11, 2014, Zuckerberg fielded questions during a live Q&A session at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, explaining that he does not believe Facebook is a waste of time.

June 2016: Top Business Visionary

In June 2016, Business Insider named Zuckerberg one of the "Top 10 Business Visionaries Creating Value for the World" due to his pledge with his wife to give away 99% of their wealth.

2016: Breakthrough Starshot Board Member

In 2016, Zuckerberg became a board member of the solar sail spacecraft development project Breakthrough Starshot, which he co-founded.

2016: CZI Donates $600 Million to Chan Zuckerberg Biohub

In 2016, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) donated $600 million to establish the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, a collaborative research center in San Francisco. The Biohub aims to foster collaboration between scientists at UCSF, UC Berkeley, and Stanford University. Unlike other foundations, Biohub retains the right to commercialize its funded research, while inventors have the option to make discoveries open-source. The CZ Biohub also mandates that investigators publish their manuscripts and data on preprint servers to increase access to scientific research. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Zuckerberg announced $25 million in grants to support local journalism impacted by the pandemic and $75 million in advertisement purchases in local newspapers by Facebook, Inc., where Facebook would market itself.

January 2019: End-to-End Encryption Plans

In January 2019, Zuckerberg laid plans to integrate an end-to-end encrypted system for Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

August 14, 2020: Instagram and Messenger Chat Systems Integrated

On August 14, 2020, Facebook integrated the chat systems for Instagram and Messenger on both iOS and Android devices, encouraging cross-communication between users.

2020: Zuckerberg Funds Ballot Initiative to Alter Proposition 13

In 2020, Mark Zuckerberg funded a state-level ballot initiative for the general election that would raise taxes by altering California's Proposition 13, requiring the tax assessment of commercial and industrial properties at market rate.

January 2025: Zuckerberg Praises US Administration

In January 2025, Mark Zuckerberg voiced his support for the U.S. administration, stating, "We now have a U.S. administration that is proud of our leading companies, prioritizes American technology winning and that will defend our values and interests abroad." He was also prominently positioned at Trump's inauguration.