Name : I Made Surya Megadhana Putra

Class : 1E AB
Number/Nim : 16/2315713083

Marck Zuckerberg

If you’ve ever used social media, it’s more than likely that you’ve heard about Facebook. The
man behind Meta (previously Facebook) who’s responsible for co-founding it in 2004, is Mark
Zuckerburg. This self-taught computer programmer serves as the tech giant’s CEO. In the third
quarter of 2020, the social media giant reported 2.74 billion monthly active users. December
2020 saw Mark Zuckerburg report USD 100 billion as his net worth. Mark Zuckerburg was
born on May 14, 1984 in White Plains, New York. From an early age, he displayed an affinity
for computers. He went on to learn BASIC programming language at a college close to home
and by age 12 he had created an instant messaging application that his father employed in his
office.
Zuckerburg enrolled at Harvard University but dropped out in his second year as he chose to
work on developing Facebook. Facebook grew out of two previous platforms he created which
were FaceMash and HarvardConnection.com respectively. While the former served as a
website that ranked Harvard students in accordance with their attractiveness, the latter served
as an online platform for social networking.
2004 saw Zuckerburg sued by credited founders of HarvardConnection.Com i.e., Cameron and
Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narendra as they felt he stole intellectual property from their
website. This was ironed out with a multi-million-dollar settlement paid out in cash as well as
stock options in 2008. The Winklevoss twins sought to reinitiate this lawsuit in 2011 however
the courts didn’t let them proceed.
Mid-2005 saw Facebook raise USD 12.7 million via venture capital and used these funds to
expand its access to cover several hundred universities and high schools. By 2006 the company
opened up to the general public and Yahoo! proposed to buy it out for USD 1 billion. This bid
was rejected fairly quickly by Mark Zuckerburg.
Fast-forward to 2012 when Facebook launched its IPO which went on to be the most successful
internet IPO ever as it raised USD 16 billion. This was an eventful year for Zuckerburg and
Facebook as the company acquired Instagram and Zuckerburg married his wife the day after
his IPO hit the market.
In December 2015, Zuckerburg and his wife Priscilla Chan published a public letter addressed
to their daughter Max. Here they made clear what the intentions of the Chan Zuckerburg
Initiative would be. A special focus on advancing human potential and promoting equal
opportunity for the next generation of children was made clear here. Areas that would be paid
attention to include but aren’t limited to building strong communities, connecting people,
curing disease and providing personalized learning. This letter also outlined the couple’s desire
to give 99 per cent of their Facebook shares – then valued at USD 45 billion – over the course
of their lives to advance this mission.
For a long time now – maybe even since its inception - Meta has been accused of gathering
and selling its users’ personal data, posts, and instant messages. These accusations gained
momentum soon after the American presidential elections in 2016. Some accusers felt that the
company had featured target ads which were used to influence American voters and that these
ads had been sponsored by Russia.
March 2018 saw several media outlets publish reports on Cambridge Analytica, a British
political consulting firm, that had paid an external researcher to gather data on 50 million
Facebook users without their consent. As per The New York Times, this information would be
used by Cambridge Analytica to carry out its “psychographic modelling” such that it could
ascertain voter attitudes and potentially influence election outcomes.
A month later Facebook stated that information pertaining to 87 million users had been
incorrectly shared with the UK-based political consulting company and not 50 million as
previously reported.
Towards the end of the same month (i.e., April 2018) Mark Zuckerburg was required to testify
in front of America’s House and Senate committees owing to Facebook’s usage of consumer
data. Here, Zuckerburg pointed out how Facebook had helped connect people during #MeToo
and other disasters. He also went on to point out that he and Facebook learnt of Cambridge
Analytica’s involvement via the news like everyone else did. He stated that Facebook sought
to take necessary actions to prevent this sort of incident from arising in the future.
Mark Zuckerburg has definitely paved the way forward for social media platforms and has
changed the digital space. Under his helm, Meta has gone on to acquire several companies
ranging from Instagram and WhatsApp to Oculus VR. The Mark Zuckerburg success
story showcases how early interest in a given field can see itself transform into global
domination if encouraged.
There are many leadership qualities that Mark Zuckerberg possess that have largely contributed
to the continued success of Facebook. Through the company’s success it shows that Mark
Zuckerberg’s current strategies and leadership qualities are very strong. One major factor that
has contributed to its success is his leadership style. His style can be described as democratic,
belligerent, and encouraging. This is because Zuckerberg has a tendency to focus on sensitivity
to group relationships. He also allows employees to select their projects and set their own work
schedule. He consistently motivates encourages and his group members to share ideas and
suggestions. As a democratic leader Mark Zuckerberg also encourages better job satisfaction
and high levels of productivity that are based on innovation and creativity. Zuckerberg also
utilizes his five P’s elements for success. These five P’s include passion, purpose, people,
product, and partnerships (Chris, 2015).
These five Ps all serve a different purpose and assist in displaying why Zuckerberg has
leadership qualities. The first P or passion is included because passion is a driving factor that
fuels perseverance and important quality for leaders to have. Having passion for what he does
allowed him to work though difficulties and taking each failure as a learning opportunity
instead of giving up. The second P or purpose reminds Zuckerberg of what he is in business for
which allows him to make better decisions about who to hire and making a better product.
People is the third p and is included because to Zuckerberg employees are an important part of
a business and should be allowed the freedom and take risks. Product is the fourth p and it is
included to reinforce the commitment Zuckerberg has into Facebook. Partnerships are also
included because Zuckerberg recognizes his weaknesses and brings in the right people to form
partnerships in order to be successful (Walter, n.d.).
Mark Zuckerberg can also be described as a transformational leader. This is because he
motivates his employees through goal setting, offering incentives, and providing opportunities
that allow his employees to grow. Additionally, Zuckerberg inspires and empowers his
employees with a clear vision and goal (Clark, 2014). A clear vision and goal allow employees
to be guided by what is to be achieved and how they can contribute. Moreover, employees are
also taught coding techniques that have been developed by the company to enable them
complete projects more efficiently. This exemplifies how important intellectual stimulation is
to Zuckerberg as a transformational leader (Wixson, 2016).
Additional attributes of Zuckerberg include his ability to remove traditional hierarchies.
Zuckerberg sees all employees as equal and encourages them to share ideas. By removing
hierarchies, he is also simultaneously removing barriers between executives and other
employees. Furthermore, he has legitimacy and is deeply involved with the company.