A profile of Mark Zuckerberg, based on interviews with him, his parents, and dozens of others, looking at his MMA training, AI pivot, management style, and more
A journey to the heart of history's largest nonterritorial empire — There they are. The Zuckerbergs. — Both in black slacks and plain shoes.
Colossus Jeremy Stern
Related Coverage
- There's a certain kind of profile that exists only to flatter the subject and give the comms team a big win for Q3, and this is a shining example of the form @crumbler · Casey Newton
- Mark Zuckerberg Profile Bravely Positions Him Exactly as He'd Like to be Seen Gizmodo · AJ Dellinger
- It's so looooooong @reckless1280 · Nilay Patel
- You can't understand Mark unless you know the entire history of Rome @crumbler · Casey Newton
- I work at Meta, and have worked on varying projects, some closer to @zuck and many further away. There's gonna be lots of reactions to this piece (including, “omg that's long") and you should have your own. Mine is that it's very complimentary but accurate. Especially the retelling of Cambridge Analytica incident, but also in how to understand a lot of the motivation behind Mark's (and therefor Meta's) actions. @beltzner · Mike Beltzner
- But he can only say “he's awesome ” on background @crumbler · Casey Newton
- kind of amazing that (i think) the only quoted people here are his parents, his wife, vanessa friedman (who doesn't seem aware she'd be in the story) his unnamed comms person, and an unnamed former employee who says he's awesome and like the terminator @katienotopoulos · Katie Notopoulos
- I think you are totally right; at the same time, it was nice to read a magazine style piece with a smidgen of access. Every GQ profile these days is like, “Brad Pitt has 20 minutes inside an office building” and so the author is doing these super meta, desperate, first person meditations on “celebrity” for 2000 words. @philedwardsinc · Phil Edwards
Discussion
-
@itsurboyevan
Evan Armstrong
on x
This profile by @colossusjeremy is one of those that makes you take a hard look in the mirror as a writer. Excellent, voicey craft that is worthy of study. https://colossus.com/...
-
@packym
Packy McCormick
on x
Vivat Zuck! Vivat Technologia Normalis!
-
@ankitkr0
Ankit
on x
“But Mark is the fucking Terminator. He's actually not an asshole, which is interesting. He's not a miserable fuck. But his source of advantage is he's never happy. He just doesn't fucking stop.” https://colossus.com/...
-
@willmanidis
Will Manidis
on x
on the margin I'm intensely skeptical of profiles of great living subjects because everyone involved is just trying to protect their legacy, but the jeremy stern profile of Zuckerberg is legitimately one for the ages. I will be thinking about it for a long, long time
-
@promptllm
@promptllm
on x
Incredible read. Whatever you think about Zuckerberg. Not many people will make a dent in the universe as much as he did. He completely changed the world And he did at 19 at that.
-
@colossusmag
@colossusmag
on x
Mark Zuckerberg's admiration for Augustus, founder of the Roman Empire, runs deep. “His wife, Priscilla Chan, joked that on their honeymoon in Rome, his constant pursuit of Augustan sites and statues made the emperor their third wheel.”
-
@thetranscript_
@thetranscript_
on x
$META Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on his edge vs Elon Musk and Sam Altman:
-
@davidicdoc
@davidicdoc
on x
“He just happened to be in the right place at the right time. It was a perfect confluence of his passion, aligned with some of my passions.” “I think people who have a passion are the luckiest people in the world.” https://colossus.com/...
-
@patrick_oshag
Patrick OShaughnessy
on x
I put my phone on airplane mode to read this, so I wouldn't be distracted. “Mark” by @colossusjeremy is one of the best profiles I've ever read. I hope you enjoy it, and learn as much as I did.
-
@colossusmag
@colossusmag
on x
Mark, by @colossusjeremy. This is a story about the head of history's largest nonterritorial empire, who nonetheless remains a prisoner of his rivals. Has he finally found a way out? The profile has been nearly a year in the making. Stern interviewed three dozen people, including…
-
@ktmboyle
Katherine Boyle
on x
“You will experience it one day too,” Ed ruminates, “when your children eclipse you.” What a line @colossusjeremy
-
@meghanbobrowsky
Meghan Bobrowsky
on x
kinda surprised facebook was already thinking about antitrust lawsuits in the first few years of its existence
-
@katienotopoulos
Katie Notopoulos
on x
I loved this profile as a Zuck completist, but there's an v funny irony that despite it being incredibly fawning about Mark's genius and power, the author admits he simply cannot bring himself to reactivate his Facebook as research bc its just such dogshit https://colossus.com/..…
-
@aarthir
Aarthi Ramamurthy
on x
Very good interview - makes you appreciate the complexity of running Meta.
-
@tomowenmorgan
Tom Morgan
on x
Honestly I expected this to be a puff piece. Far from it, it's deeply thoughtful and nuanced. Cracking read.
-
@kmr_dilip
Dilip Kumar
on x
Hard hitting quotes for every founder out there. 1) “My main tool in the world is sitting down, building a team, and methodically improving something over a long period of time. It's not a very sexy process.” 2)
-
@chat_sbc
@chat_sbc
on x
colossus bios are the new robert caro books
-
@jwmares
Justin Mares
on x
This is exceptional. Well worth the read