On Mark Zuckerberg's IQ and EQ
Known for ushering in the rise of social networks, Mark Zuckerberg continues to remain on the throne of big tech. From the design of a project in his university days to the current Meta empire that he sustains, the New Yorker has come to be considered one of the world's most brilliant entrepreneurs, not absolved of criticism and controversy in recent years. But, what is Mark Zuckerberg general intelligence (IQ) and emotional intelligence (EQ)?
In fact, not much information is available about Zuckerberg's IQ and EQ, as no test results he may have performed have ever been published. However, we are going to try to answer these questions by making a prediction of his emotional and general intelligence levels based on his personal and professional life and background.
Growing up, Mark stood out of the crowd
Mark was born in 1984 in New York, and started outsmarting everyone with a superior intelligence very soon. Already in his childhood, he excelled and was soon transferred from school due to his excellence. He obtained awards in different science subjects.
Mark’s biggest interest as a child was probably playing with computers. In school he was learning how to use them, so he was able to program and write code at a very early age. An example of that was the software he built to connect their parent’s home with his father’s practice.
He used his free time in high school to create programs. Soon he captured the interest of companies such as Microsoft and AOL, for a media player he built, which made him an almost million-dollar offer that Zuckerberg turned down. Looking forward, Mark wanted however to study at the prestigious Harvard University before any work, something he eventually achieved on his own. As we can see, the little genius was already aiming to become a great businessman.
His intellectual awakening at the university
Zuckerberg achieved his dream of studying at Harvard in 2002. In just two years, he got a reputation as a great programmer. At this stage of his life, he began to forge the prologue to Facebook, which has so far been his biggest business project, as seen in the documentary Mark Zuckerberg: Inside Facebook.
In 2003, he developed the ‘CourseMatch’ student program, which helped students at the beginning of each semester choose the courses they would like to study. At the same time, he also created ‘Face Mash’, an application that collected data on all Harvard students, with their names and photos, to build a ranking that determined who was the most attractive person on campus according to the students' votes. Face Mash was so successful among the university community that Harvard's management team had to shut it down, and they determined that Zuckerberg had violated the university's privacy and intellectual property policies. As we can see in the film The Social Network (2010), the young man had to publicly apologize and completely remove Face Mash, not yet knowing that this prank he had created would be considered the beta version of Facebook, and a piece of Internet history.
Three students, Divya Narendra and the Winklevoss twins, surprised by Mark's ingenuity, proposed to him to be part of Harvard Connection, a project they were developing to unite students at the university through a platform. Zuckerberg accepted, but his inspiration lay elsewhere: he dreamed of creating something bigger, that would reach all corners and unite people from all over the world. Soon after, he withdrew from the project to start his own.
With his roommates, Mark started working on a website that would meet all his requirements and wishes: a virtual space where it would be possible to create personal profiles, upload photos and be able to interact with each other. As a name, they resorted to the name of the yearbook that was kept in high schools with the photos and names of each student: The facebook. The first version of Facebook was launched from the three students' dorm room computers in 2004. This ambition points to a very high level of general intelligence, as well as his concern for solving his life from a young age.
Successful Entrepreneur
Facebook spread super fast, first through Harvard, then all US universities and finally around the world. There where tons of investors interested with a lot of money ready. So Mark dropped out of Harvard to lead the new Facebook company. This ambition and perseverance reveals an aspect of his personality and EQ that is closely related to assertiveness, perseverance and having clear ideas. Zuckerberg demonstrated a strong character, as he had clear ideas of what he wanted for his life.
In 2006, Zuckerberg had to face lawsuits from his former Harvard Connection classmates, who accused him of stealing their ideas. While he was dealing with these legal troubles, Mark continued to work on his platform. In 2007, Facebook was already a billion-dollar company and Mark was super rich. With the Like button on Facebook, Zuckerberg turns his platform into a new tool for social valuation and approval. Mark demonstrated a great ability to empathize the needs of the contemporary community.
Mark was fastly becoming one of the most influential persons in the world. Do you remember Vanity Fair’s “person of the year” award? Well, he received it too. He even started to appear in TV shows such as the Simpsons.
A philanthropic family man
Since Facebook went public in 2012, the CEO has added an average of $9 billion each year to his fortune. It's clear that things have been going well for him, but what's behind the billionaire man?
Although Mark Zuckerberg has not made major public appearances in his family sphere, some details about his more personal life are known. Some of these details reveal his character: an introverted but busy guy, who seems to have been able to combine his dreams with his more personal and relational commitments.
While at Harvard, Mark met another medical student who he really liked, Priscilla Chan. They decided to marry after some years and now have two daughters. Mark publishes photos of the family in his Instagram profile frequently, in which he always appears casual and friendly.
The Zuckerberg family has created a foundation (NGO) to invest an important part of their fortune in medical research and education. It is called the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and it started with “only” 3 billion US dollars.
Another interesting factor reported by the Washington Post, is that Mark, although atheist, says is mainly vegetarian. This may indicate a higher level of engagement with living things, something that impacts his EQ. A curious fact is that, despite all this, Forbes rates Zuckerberg's solidarity actions and way of living with a 2 in its ‘Philantrophy score’.
Final prediction
We can say that Mark Zuckerberg stands out for his high general intelligence, which he demonstrates in his great abilities from a very young age to develop innovative products and projects. He also demonstrates a great emotional intelligence, having been able to find a new model of social interaction, and to integrate the everyday things of social relationships on the Internet. He has lectured extensively and has always been in the public eye for his career, so he has great communication skills.
Based on Zuckerberg's life history and abilities, we can say that he is at least in the top 1% in both IQ and EQ. We predict that his IQ will be around 145.
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