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“He’s living his best life.”
Throwing Fits
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has a newfound sense of, er, style — and his fellow tech leaders are very into it.
As the Washington Post reports, the 40-year-old tech mogul’s new look features shirts like his flashy “AUT ZUCK AUT NIHIL” one, which he created in tandem with a menswear designer as part of a larger capsule collection.
And his “bro-ified” sense of personal style is capturing all the right attention.
Along with rocking custom tees, the millennial billionaire’s grown-out curls and newly-built physique courtesy of his mixed martial arts (MMA) hobby seem indicative not just of a fresh look, but also of a fresh outlook.
That’s at least according to other tech execs who are seemingly trying to score points with the billionaire.
“[It’s] resonated with a younger generation in terms of style and presentation,” tech investor Brianne Kimmel, the founder of the Worklife Ventures firm, told the WaPo of Zuckerberg’s new swag. “There’s a cool factor that didn’t exist before, and now male tech CEOs have a playbook to achieve similar results.”
Beyond that new “cool”-ness is, apparently, a new confidence that has become apparent to investors and admirers alike.
“I don’t apologize anymore,” an all-grown-up and feisty Zuckerberg said during a lengthy taped discussion of the “Acquired” podcast last month.
“We’ve noticed,” one of the hosts responded.
Good Vibrations
Even ex-employees are feeling the allure of Zuck’s new vibe.
“Zuckerberg is ruthless as both a leader and an executive, but in his heart, he’s just a start-up guy who wants to be cool with the nerds,” a former Facebook executive told the newspaper. “He’s living his best life.”
Though the Meta CEO may well have come to this style evolution on his own, WaPo has also uncovered evidence that it could have been steered by none other than former PayPal CEO and billionaire investor Peter Thiel, a trusted mentor and advisor to the younger tech scion.
In a 2020 email disclosed during discovery in a lawsuit filed against Meta by the state of Tennessee, Thiel encouraged Zuckerberg to redo his image to appeal to youthful audiences.
“As the head of the most successful Millennial tech company, it makes more sense for Zuckerberg to present himself as ‘Millennial spokesperson,'” rather than “‘Mark as a Baby Boomer construct of how a well-behaved Millennial is supposed to act,'” the 56-year-old entrepreneur wrote to his younger protegé.
“Finally, I think there’s also some distinction between me and the company here,” Zuckerberg responded. “This is likely particularly important for how I show up because I’m the most well-known person of my generation.”
Though it’s impossible to say whether that advice is at the heart of the Meta CEO’s rebrand, he did seem eager to follow it — and lo and behold, just a few years later, we have a spiffy new Zuck.
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