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Portrait of Mark Zuckerberg
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Mark Zuckerberg

Founder, Meta

  • Founder, Meta since 20041
  • Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Meta12
  • Co-founder and co-CEO, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative since 20151

Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004 and leads the company, now Meta, as founder, chairman and chief executive officer, setting its overall direction and product strategy. Meta's family of apps includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Meta AI, Threads, and WhatsApp, and under Zuckerberg the company has shared landmark AI tools openly, from the PyTorch framework to the Llama models. Zuckerberg also co-founded the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in 2015 and serves as its co-CEO.1234

At a glance

Current roles
Founder +2 more
Honors
1
Sources cited
11
Profile reviewed

Accomplishments

  • Founded Facebook in 2004 and leads Meta as founder, chairman and chief executive officer.1
  • Built a family of apps that includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Meta AI, Threads, and WhatsApp.2
  • Led Facebook's 2021 transformation into Meta, with a focus on immersive augmented and virtual reality experiences.1
  • Announced in 2022 that Meta was moving PyTorch, the open source AI framework led by Meta researchers, to the Linux Foundation.3
  • Championed open AI models, from the release of LLaMA in 2023 to Llama 3.1 405B and the Llama 4 herd.546
  • Set out Meta's vision to bring personal superintelligence to everyone.7
  • Guided Meta as Meta Superintelligence Labs introduced Muse Spark and the Muse personal AI agent in 2026.89
  • Co-founded the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in 2015 to help address challenges such as disease and education.1
  • Received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Harvard University in 2017.10

Early life and education

Mark Zuckerberg was born in White Plains, New York, and studied computer science at Harvard University.1

Harvard later welcomed Zuckerberg back as the featured speaker at the Afternoon Program of its 366th Commencement in May 2017, when the university awarded Zuckerberg an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. In that address, Zuckerberg told graduates that the challenge for their generation is creating a world where everyone has a sense of purpose.1011

Founding Facebook and building Meta

Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004; the company was incorporated in Delaware in July of that year, and Zuckerberg moved Facebook to Palo Alto, California. In October 2021, Facebook rebranded to Meta to reflect all of its products and services across its family of apps and a focus on developing social experiences for the metaverse, moving beyond 2D screens toward immersive experiences like augmented and virtual reality.1210

Meta describes its mission as building the future of human connection and the technology that makes it possible. Its family of apps includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Meta AI, Threads, and WhatsApp, while its Reality Labs work includes Meta Quest virtual reality devices, Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta AI glasses, the Meta Ray-Ban Display with the Meta Neural Band, and the Orion augmented reality glasses prototype.2

Championing open AI

Meta has shared major AI tools with the world. In September 2022, Zuckerberg announced that Meta was moving PyTorch, the open source AI framework led by Meta researchers, to the Linux Foundation. In February 2023, as part of Meta's commitment to open science, the company publicly released LLaMA, a foundational large language model.35

In July 2024, Zuckerberg published "Open Source AI Is the Path Forward", arguing that AI will develop much as Linux did and that open source is necessary for a positive AI future. The letter introduced Llama 3.1 405B, which Meta called the first frontier-level open source AI model. In April 2025, Meta followed with the Llama 4 herd, natively multimodal models including Llama 4 Scout and Llama 4 Maverick.46

Personal superintelligence

In July 2025, Zuckerberg laid out Meta's vision to bring personal superintelligence to everyone, putting that power in people's hands so they can direct it toward what they value in their own lives.7

Meta Superintelligence Labs went on to rebuild Meta's AI stack from the ground up, and in April 2026 announced Muse Spark, the first in a new series of large language models. In September 2026, Meta introduced Muse, a personal AI agent that does not just answer questions but actually does the work, running on its own dedicated computer in the cloud.89

Philanthropy

Zuckerberg co-founded the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in 2015 and serves as its co-CEO. The initiative works on challenges ranging from eradicating disease and improving education to addressing the needs of local communities, through collaboration, resources, and technology.1

Timeline

  1. Zuckerberg founded Facebook.1
  2. Facebook was incorporated in Delaware.2
  3. Zuckerberg co-founded the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.1
  4. Zuckerberg delivered the Afternoon Program address at Harvard's 366th Commencement and received an honorary Doctor of Laws.1110
  5. Facebook rebranded to Meta.1
  6. The Linux Foundation announced that Meta was moving PyTorch to its stewardship.3
  7. Meta publicly released LLaMA, a foundational large language model.5
  8. Zuckerberg published "Open Source AI Is the Path Forward" alongside Llama 3.1.4
  9. Meta released the Llama 4 herd of natively multimodal models.6
  10. Zuckerberg published "Personal Superintelligence".7
  11. Meta Superintelligence Labs announced Muse Spark.8
  12. Meta introduced Muse, a personal AI agent.9

Honors and recognition

  • Honorary Doctor of Laws · Harvard University, 201710

Where they work

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References

11 sources · profile reviewed Oct 11, 2026 · data updated Oct 11, 2026

  1. Mark Zuckerberg, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | MetaMeta · Official page · accessed Oct 11, 2026
  2. Meta Platforms, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025Meta Platforms, Inc. (SEC EDGAR) · Filing · accessed Oct 11, 2026
  3. Meta Transitions PyTorch to the Linux Foundation, Further Accelerating AI/ML Open Source CollaborationThe Linux Foundation · Announcement · published Sep 12, 2022 · accessed Oct 11, 2026
  4. Open Source AI Is the Path ForwardMeta · Announcement · published Jul 23, 2024 · accessed Oct 11, 2026
  5. Introducing LLaMA: A foundational, 65-billion-parameter large language modelMeta AI · Announcement · published Feb 24, 2023 · accessed Oct 11, 2026
  6. The Llama 4 herd: The beginning of a new era of natively multimodal AI innovationMeta AI · Announcement · published Apr 5, 2025 · accessed Oct 11, 2026
  7. Personal SuperintelligenceMeta · Official page · published Jul 30, 2025 · accessed Oct 11, 2026
  8. Introducing Muse Spark: MSL's First Model, Purpose-Built to Prioritize PeopleMeta · Announcement · published Apr 8, 2026 · accessed Oct 11, 2026
  9. Introducing Muse: The World's First Personal AI Agent Built for EveryoneMeta · Announcement · published Sep 8, 2026 · accessed Oct 11, 2026
  10. Harvard awards 10 honorary degrees at 366th CommencementHarvard University (Harvard Gazette) · Announcement · published May 25, 2017 · accessed Oct 11, 2026
  11. Mark Zuckerberg's Commencement address at HarvardHarvard University (Harvard Gazette) · Official page · published May 25, 2017 · accessed Oct 11, 2026