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Mark Zuckerberg Finally Gets His Harvard Degree - 13 Years After Dropping Out

Mark Zuckerberg Finally Gets His Harvard Degree - 13 Years After Dropping Out

Fair play to him.

Mel Ramsay

Mel Ramsay

Mark Zuckerberg has finally received a degree from Harvard - 13 years after dropping out.

The billionaire CEO behind Facebook returned to the Ivy League school to address its graduating class, and picked up his own honorary degree at the same time.

Zuckerberg famously dropped out of the prestigious university in order to pursue developing Facebook.

While he was in university, he made an early version called Facemash which allowed students to compare how attractive their classmates were.

He got in quite a bit of trouble, and expected to be thrown out of the university. His friends decided to throw a leaving party and his parents came to pick up his stuff. He hadn't even been kicked out yet, but they were pretty sure it was going to happen.

It was here that he met his future wife, and the mother of his daughter, Priscilla Chan.

While he was addressing the graduating class, he explained how they met.

He said: "In what must be one of the all time romantic lines, I said: 'I'm going to get kicked out in three days, so we need to go on a date quickly'.

"Actually, any of you graduating can use that line.

"I didn't end up getting kicked out - I did that to myself. Priscilla and I started dating.

"And, you know, that movie made it seem like Facemash was so important to creating Facebook. It wasn't. But without Facemash I wouldn't have met Priscilla, and she's the most important person in my life, so you could say it was the most important thing I built in my time here."


Credit: Harvard University

He told the class: "I'm here to tell you finding your purpose isn't enough.

"The challenge for our generation is creating a world where everyone has a sense of purpose."

He then added: "Today I want to talk about three ways to create a world where everyone has a sense of purpose: by taking on big meaningful projects together, by redefining equality so everyone has the freedom to pursue purpose, and by building community across the world."

At one point, Zuckerberg choked back tears. He told the class a story of someone that he mentors.


Mark and Priscilla. Credit: Facebook

He explained: "One day after class I was talking to them about college, and one of my top students raised his hand and said he wasn't sure he could go because he's undocumented. He didn't know if they'd let him in.

"Last year I took him out to breakfast for his birthday. I wanted to get him a present, so I asked him what he wanted and he started talking about students he saw struggling and said, 'You know, I'd really just like a book on social justice'.

"I was blown away. Here's a young guy who has every reason to be cynical. He didn't know if the country he calls home - the only one he's known - would deny him his dream of going to college.

"But he wasn't feeling sorry for himself. He wasn't even thinking of himself. He has a greater sense of purpose, and he's going to bring people along with him.

"It says something about our current situation that I can't even say his name because I don't want to put him at risk.

"But if a high school senior who doesn't know what the future holds can do his part to move the world forward, then we owe it to the world to do our part too."

What a legend.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg