ABSTRACT
Mark Zuckerberg was a Harvard sophomore who at 19 years old, created the premier social networking Internet service that is currently used by over one tenth of the world’s population. He started Facebook in 2004 from his dorm suite with some help from his friends. Facebook began exclusively as a Harvard-based service, expanded to other colleges, to organizations, and eventually worldwide to everyone not less than 13 years of age. Facebook records more hours than users spend on email. A 2009 survey showed Facebook as one of the 10 most trusted companies in the United States, ahead of Apple, Google, and Microsoft. A recent investment in Facebook by Goldman and Sachs implies a market value of $50 billion for the company. Although this is likely infl ated, Zuckerberg has rejected off ers of $15 billion in the past. As CEO, Zuckerberg remains in control of Facebook, which continues to expand and refl ect his own beliefs and philosophy about availability of information, transparency, and connectedness in the world.
