No more Mr. Nice Guy: meet the real Mark Zuckerberg

The cage fight

The cage fight, Musk dances around his opponent, A shift in perspective, The start of the meta-morphosis, MAGA Mark, Badges of wealth, A Mar-a-Lago regular, Trump's first mate, A less charitable stance, Funding pulled, Meta's more cutthroat approach, A need for "masculine energy", Reeling from Biden snub, Revenge of the Nerds, The real deal, Giveaway behaviors, The authentic Zuckerberg at last

In August 2023, a surprisingly buff Mark Zuckerberg accepted fellow tech billionaire Elon Musk’s challenge to a cage fight.

Musk dances around his opponent

The cage fight, Musk dances around his opponent, A shift in perspective, The start of the meta-morphosis, MAGA Mark, Badges of wealth, A Mar-a-Lago regular, Trump's first mate, A less charitable stance, Funding pulled, Meta's more cutthroat approach, A need for "masculine energy", Reeling from Biden snub, Revenge of the Nerds, The real deal, Giveaway behaviors, The authentic Zuckerberg at last

The match never took place, but only because Musk slithered his way out of it, realizing that, although he was richer than Zuckerberg, he was older and far from fit. “If Elon ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me," Zuckerberg said at the time.

A shift in perspective

The cage fight, Musk dances around his opponent, A shift in perspective, The start of the meta-morphosis, MAGA Mark, Badges of wealth, A Mar-a-Lago regular, Trump's first mate, A less charitable stance, Funding pulled, Meta's more cutthroat approach, A need for "masculine energy", Reeling from Biden snub, Revenge of the Nerds, The real deal, Giveaway behaviors, The authentic Zuckerberg at last

This was perhaps the point that the public stopped thinking about the Meta boss in terms of the reserved dressed-down nerd who seemed to be on the right side of tech regulation – a figure you might even suspect of empathy.

The start of the meta-morphosis

The cage fight, Musk dances around his opponent, A shift in perspective, The start of the meta-morphosis, MAGA Mark, Badges of wealth, A Mar-a-Lago regular, Trump's first mate, A less charitable stance, Funding pulled, Meta's more cutthroat approach, A need for "masculine energy", Reeling from Biden snub, Revenge of the Nerds, The real deal, Giveaway behaviors, The authentic Zuckerberg at last

That year Zuckerberg became a Brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt and began his metamorphosis from Mr. Nice Guy who funded social causes along with his wife Priscilla Chan in a bid to emulate Bill and Melinda Gates to a take-no-prisoners macho dude who hangs with Donald Trump.

 

Photo: screenshot from Mark Zuckerberg instagram

MAGA Mark

The cage fight, Musk dances around his opponent, A shift in perspective, The start of the meta-morphosis, MAGA Mark, Badges of wealth, A Mar-a-Lago regular, Trump's first mate, A less charitable stance, Funding pulled, Meta's more cutthroat approach, A need for "masculine energy", Reeling from Biden snub, Revenge of the Nerds, The real deal, Giveaway behaviors, The authentic Zuckerberg at last

As he grew bolder, some in Meta coined the nickname MAGA Mark. Gradually, over the next year, it was out with the modest attire and in with the bling.

Badges of wealth

The cage fight, Musk dances around his opponent, A shift in perspective, The start of the meta-morphosis, MAGA Mark, Badges of wealth, A Mar-a-Lago regular, Trump's first mate, A less charitable stance, Funding pulled, Meta's more cutthroat approach, A need for "masculine energy", Reeling from Biden snub, Revenge of the Nerds, The real deal, Giveaway behaviors, The authentic Zuckerberg at last

The conservative short, back and sides was swapped for a ginger mullet and the discreetly expensive grey Ts for gold chains and mighty watches that screamed money.

Photo: screenshot from Mark Zuckerberg instagram

A Mar-a-Lago regular

The cage fight, Musk dances around his opponent, A shift in perspective, The start of the meta-morphosis, MAGA Mark, Badges of wealth, A Mar-a-Lago regular, Trump's first mate, A less charitable stance, Funding pulled, Meta's more cutthroat approach, A need for "masculine energy", Reeling from Biden snub, Revenge of the Nerds, The real deal, Giveaway behaviors, The authentic Zuckerberg at last

The new look was accompanied by multiple trips to Trump’s Florida refuge Mar-a-Lago and, after Trump’s election, to the White House.

Trump's first mate

The cage fight, Musk dances around his opponent, A shift in perspective, The start of the meta-morphosis, MAGA Mark, Badges of wealth, A Mar-a-Lago regular, Trump's first mate, A less charitable stance, Funding pulled, Meta's more cutthroat approach, A need for "masculine energy", Reeling from Biden snub, Revenge of the Nerds, The real deal, Giveaway behaviors, The authentic Zuckerberg at last

One source told the Financial Times that Trump “loves introducing him around” at social occasions, bringing to mind Trump’s love affair with Zuckerberg rival Elon Musk which is now well and truly on the scrap heap.

A less charitable stance

The cage fight, Musk dances around his opponent, A shift in perspective, The start of the meta-morphosis, MAGA Mark, Badges of wealth, A Mar-a-Lago regular, Trump's first mate, A less charitable stance, Funding pulled, Meta's more cutthroat approach, A need for "masculine energy", Reeling from Biden snub, Revenge of the Nerds, The real deal, Giveaway behaviors, The authentic Zuckerberg at last

The more Zuckerberg has cozied up to Trump, the less inclined he has become to fund the social causes he and his wife plowed money into with the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI).

Funding pulled

The cage fight, Musk dances around his opponent, A shift in perspective, The start of the meta-morphosis, MAGA Mark, Badges of wealth, A Mar-a-Lago regular, Trump's first mate, A less charitable stance, Funding pulled, Meta's more cutthroat approach, A need for "masculine energy", Reeling from Biden snub, Revenge of the Nerds, The real deal, Giveaway behaviors, The authentic Zuckerberg at last

According to the Washington Post, a primary school of under-privileged kids funded by the CZI has just had its funding pulled as the foundation moves its focus off projects revolving around social issues.

 

Photo: screenshot from Washington Post Instagram

Meta's more cutthroat approach

The cage fight, Musk dances around his opponent, A shift in perspective, The start of the meta-morphosis, MAGA Mark, Badges of wealth, A Mar-a-Lago regular, Trump's first mate, A less charitable stance, Funding pulled, Meta's more cutthroat approach, A need for "masculine energy", Reeling from Biden snub, Revenge of the Nerds, The real deal, Giveaway behaviors, The authentic Zuckerberg at last

Within Meta, Zuckerberg has scrapped fact-checking, ditched Diversity Inclusion and Equality (DEI) policy and slackened regulations designed to keep vulnerable demographics safe online.

A need for "masculine energy"

The cage fight, Musk dances around his opponent, A shift in perspective, The start of the meta-morphosis, MAGA Mark, Badges of wealth, A Mar-a-Lago regular, Trump's first mate, A less charitable stance, Funding pulled, Meta's more cutthroat approach, A need for "masculine energy", Reeling from Biden snub, Revenge of the Nerds, The real deal, Giveaway behaviors, The authentic Zuckerberg at last

In a chat with rightwing podcaster Joe Rogan, Zuckerberg claimed that corporations need more “masculine energy.”

Reeling from Biden snub

The cage fight, Musk dances around his opponent, A shift in perspective, The start of the meta-morphosis, MAGA Mark, Badges of wealth, A Mar-a-Lago regular, Trump's first mate, A less charitable stance, Funding pulled, Meta's more cutthroat approach, A need for "masculine energy", Reeling from Biden snub, Revenge of the Nerds, The real deal, Giveaway behaviors, The authentic Zuckerberg at last

Some close to Zuckerberg told the Financial Times that Zuckerberg’s sharp right turn has to do with being snubbed by Joe Biden; the former President failed to include him in an invitation to an AI summit entitled ‘Companies at the Forefront of AI Innovation’.

Revenge of the Nerds

The cage fight, Musk dances around his opponent, A shift in perspective, The start of the meta-morphosis, MAGA Mark, Badges of wealth, A Mar-a-Lago regular, Trump's first mate, A less charitable stance, Funding pulled, Meta's more cutthroat approach, A need for "masculine energy", Reeling from Biden snub, Revenge of the Nerds, The real deal, Giveaway behaviors, The authentic Zuckerberg at last

Zuckerberg was also rattled by attacks on Meta and its modus operandi from activists, the press and academics. The result? What is known as The Revenge of the Nerds.

The real deal

The cage fight, Musk dances around his opponent, A shift in perspective, The start of the meta-morphosis, MAGA Mark, Badges of wealth, A Mar-a-Lago regular, Trump's first mate, A less charitable stance, Funding pulled, Meta's more cutthroat approach, A need for "masculine energy", Reeling from Biden snub, Revenge of the Nerds, The real deal, Giveaway behaviors, The authentic Zuckerberg at last

Others claim that Zuckerberg was ever thus. The ruthless buffed Zuckerberg the public sees now is the same guy who told a college chum as he set up Facebook in 2004 that the people trusting him with their data were “dumb f***s”.

Giveaway behaviors

The cage fight, Musk dances around his opponent, A shift in perspective, The start of the meta-morphosis, MAGA Mark, Badges of wealth, A Mar-a-Lago regular, Trump's first mate, A less charitable stance, Funding pulled, Meta's more cutthroat approach, A need for "masculine energy", Reeling from Biden snub, Revenge of the Nerds, The real deal, Giveaway behaviors, The authentic Zuckerberg at last

The 2025 Zuckerberg is the same guy that allegedly stole the idea for Facebook from fellow Harvard undergraduates the Winklevoss twins and ditched co-founder Eduardo Saverin. The same guy who has for years shouted “Domination!” at the end of every staff meeting.

The authentic Zuckerberg at last

The cage fight, Musk dances around his opponent, A shift in perspective, The start of the meta-morphosis, MAGA Mark, Badges of wealth, A Mar-a-Lago regular, Trump's first mate, A less charitable stance, Funding pulled, Meta's more cutthroat approach, A need for "masculine energy", Reeling from Biden snub, Revenge of the Nerds, The real deal, Giveaway behaviors, The authentic Zuckerberg at last

Meta CEO Andrew Bosworth told the Financial Times: “The public is seeing him more how we have, internally, since the beginning.”

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