Mark Zuckerberg
Status: Founder, CEO
Age: 27
Residence: Palo Alto, CA
Education: Two years at Harvard University
Facebook stake: 28.2%
Value: $24 billion
Selected TIME Magazine's "Person of the Year" in 2010, Mark Zuckerberg has been credited for connecting the world via Facebook. Raised in Dobbs Ferry, NY, Zuckerberg began writing software while in middle school and by the end of high school, he had co-written a music recommendation program called Synapse Media Player, which Microsoft and AOL reportedly offered Zuckerberg a million dollars to further develop. "Zuck" however turned them down and ran off to attend Harvard. While in his ivy covered Cambridge dorm, Zuckerberg created Facemash, a website that compared students' photos side-by-side in a fashion similar to HOT or NOT.com. After disciplinary action from the school's administration, Zuckerberg shut down Facemash and began "thefacebook," initially only available to Harvard students. Zuckerberg has since defended the site in intellectual property disputes and spurned buyout offers from Viacom, Yahoo! and other suitors. The 27 year old CEO owns 28.2% of Facebook's B shares. Using an $85 billion valuation, Zuck's stake is worth just shy of $24 billion.
