Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of Meta, is a relentless and controversial shaper of global social connectivity and digital interaction. He built Facebook from a dorm-room project into a family of apps (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) used by over 3 billion people monthly. His influence on media, politics, and communication is arguably unparalleled. After facing existential crises around data privacy and misinformation, Zuckerberg made the audacious, high-risk pivot to bet the company on the 'metaverse,' rebranding as Meta and investing tens of billions annually into virtual and augmented reality through Reality Labs.

While this bet strained finances and investor patience, his subsequent 'Year of Efficiency' in 2023 refocused the company on profitability and a surprising AI offensive, launching the Llama series of open-source large language models. Zuckerberg's influence lies in his scale, his willingness to make massive long-term bets that define tech trends, and his control over the infrastructure of global social graphs.