Mark Zuckerberg, born in 1984, revolutionized the way we connect with friends and family by founding Facebook back in 2004—right from his Harvard dorm room. Today, though, his name is linked not only to tech innovation but also to a long list of controversies and a recent political pivot, especially toward Donald Trump.

After turning Facebook into an economic powerhouse, Zuckerberg steered its growth through key acquisitions like Instagram and WhatsApp, eventually launching “Meta Platforms” (better known as Meta), betting big on the metaverse and, more recently, artificial intelligence. This year (2025), he announced a massive $60 billion investment in AI, showing a bold appetite for new tech. Despite challenges—including billions lost in the virtual reality space—Zuckerberg remains one of the most powerful and talked-about figures on the planet.

Rather than celebrate his insights and successes, which the internet already overflows with, I want to highlight some of the more controversial (and questionable) moves he’s made. For instance, the numerous accusations of privacy violations and mishandling user data. From the Cambridge Analytica scandal (“The Great Hack” docufilm)—which led to a record $5 billion fine for misuse of personal data—to recent complaints in Europe: in 2025, around 5,000 users accused Facebook of ignoring requests to stop profiling them for direct marketing, thus violating the EU’s GDPR. Meta has faced and settled several lawsuits, often with multi-million dollar deals, but data privacy remains a sore spot for the company.

Beyond these issues, there’s been a notable shift in Zuckerberg’s stance toward U.S. politics. After banning Trump from Facebook and Instagram in 2021, he reactivated Trump’s accounts in 2024 and even donated $1 million to the newly re-elected president’s inaugural fund. More than that, he’s attended private events at Mar-a-Lago and aligned closely with the Trump administration’s principles and directives—evident in company decisions like dropping fact-checking and appointing conservative figures to Meta’s leadership. This turnaround sparked plenty of debate, marking a “Meta-morphosis” that brought Zuckerberg closer to Republican positions and Trump’s strategies.

The growing disillusionment and disengagement with social media we’re seeing lately might partly stem from owners like him, who, shrouded in gray areas, cast a shadow over the products and services they offer.