The Face Behind Facebook
Tells 60 Minutes "Beacon" Needs Work, 2008 IPO Highly Unlikely
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The Face Behind Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg is said to be worth $3 billion for founding the social networking Web site Facebook. Lesley Stahl talks to the man whose $15 billion company could be the next Google.
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Video
Mr. Facebook's Personal Page
What's on Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's personal page? Lesley Stahl got a sneak peek when she interviewed him in Palo Alto.
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Video
Kara Swisher On Facebook
Blogger, and sometime Facebook critic, Kara Swisher actually has a page on Facebook. She shares her likes and dislikes of the service and the company behind it.
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Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. (CBS)
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Photo Essay
CES 2008
The latest gadgets, gizmos and games are on display in Las Vegas
by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff

Which is why Yahoo! offered to buy Facebook in 2006 for $1 billion in cash. Zuckerberg declined. But then in 2007 Microsoft swooped in and bought 1.6 percent of the company for $240 million.
That meant that Bill Gates valued Facebook at $15 billion, roughly the same as Ford or CBS. Some analysts say that's wildly unrealistic, since Facebook has yet to figure out how to make money off its huge audience.
Asked if it's true that Facebook doesn't make that much money, Zuckerberg tells Stahl, "I think that's a pretty relative thing. But I mean as a private company, we just have the advantage of not necessarily having to report to the outside world all of our financials."
He may duck the question, but there's no getting around the fact that Facebook needs to find a way to generate revenue, and so Zuckerberg is experimenting with ads, trying to cash-in on his users' own recommendations.
Say you write on Facebook that you like a certain movie - that's turned into an ad. Or maybe you like a scarf from Bloomingdale's.
"So this isn't an ad that's going to go to a lot of people. Basically it- when you put that information in our profile that you bought a scarf and that you like that scarf, that’s something that your friends might find interesting, right? So what we’d do is we might show that information to your friends a little bit more proactively as an ad. Right…so," Zuckerberg explains.
"But with me in the ad?" Stahl asks.
"Yeah, but that would basically be the ad," Zuckerberg says.
"Okay. But it’s almost like an endorsement. Like Michael Jordan for Nike. I become the spokesman for that ad," Stahl remarks.
"Well, that's what you're doing when you're putting that information in your profile," Zuckerberg argues.
The real trouble started when Facebook began using a tracking program called "Beacon" that monitors what you buy on over 40 Web sites, and automatically reports it to your friends, without explicit permission.
"People signed up for Facebook thinking that it was a way to just stay in touch with their friends. And now some of them feel that there’s some snooping going on," Stahl says. "Is there any concern you're turning Facebook into something much more commercial?"
"I actually think that this makes it less commercial. I mean, what would you rather see? A banner ad from Bloomingdale’s or that one of your friends bought a scarf?" Zuckerberg asks.
But when a Facebook user bought his wife a diamond ring online, the surprise was ruined because Beacon notified all his friends and his wife about it, on Facebook. With stories like that, criticism of Beacon began to build, but Zuckerberg dug in his heels, until he had a full blown PR disaster on his hands, including petitions and bloggers writing the company’s obituaries.
"I guess this shows how difficult it is for a company like yours to make money through advertising and protect people's real privacy and their sense of privacy," Stahl says.
"It might take some work for us to get this exactly right," Zuckerberg says. "This is something we think is going to be a really good thing."
Not a real answer to the privacy question, more like the canned response of a typical business executive.
"I mean there have to be ads either way because we have to make money," Zuckerberg says. "I mean, we have 400 employees and you know, I mean, we have to support all that and make a profit."
Produced By Shachar Bar-On
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


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See all 125 CommentsThe funniest part was when a little stuck-up, spoiled, stupid, arrogant and "amazing" college student I know graduated, and suddenly wasn''t so welcome on "amazing" facebook with her spoiled little "amazing" friends. Now she is working for the corporations, like a a dog, at their beck and call, a meaningless part of a hostile, meaningless system, not so "amazing" is it, white trash.
:) nmw
Frustrated System Administrator
It sounds to me like folks need to be more cautious about the things they choose to post online, but then again, that''s anywhere online, not just Facebook.
so i had to create a new account, and get all my lost stuff back to my new one.
[Posted by KR0523 at 07:28 PM : Jan 13, 2008]
the exploitation is not being done by him ... so why would he need a good attorney?
he built a web site ... why should he be liable for what others do using it?
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
Forgive me, but to call it a "prank" is a tad light-hearted.
Forgive me if I never use their site. The internet is bad enough with illegitimate ID thieves than to sign up for a legitimized one.
The moral of the story is: Drop out of school, break the rules as big as you like, and you''ll become rich. WWJD?
Forgive me, but to call it a "prank" is a tad light-hearted.
Forgive me if I never use their site. The internet is bad enough with illegitimate ID thieves than to sign up for a legitimized one.
The moral of the story is: Drop out of school, break the rules as big as you like, and you''ll become rich. WWJD?
Forgive me, but to call it a "prank" is a tad light-hearted.
Forgive me if I never use their site. The internet is bad enough with illegitimate ID thieves than to sign up for a legitimized one.
The moral of the story is: Drop out of school, break the rules as big as you like, and you''ll become rich. WWJD?
Forgive me, but to call it a "prank" is a tad light-hearted.
Forgive me if I never use their site. The internet is bad enough with illegitimate ID thieves than to sign up for a legitimized one.
The moral of the story is: Drop out of school, break the rules as big as you like, and you''ll become rich. WWJD?
Forgive me, but to call it a "prank" is a tad light-hearted.
Forgive me if I never use their site. The internet is bad enough with illegitimate ID thieves than to sign up for a legitimized one.
The moral of the story is: Drop out of school, break the rules as big as you like, and you''ll become rich. WWJD?
Forgive me, but to call it a "prank" is a tad light-hearted.
Forgive me if I never use their site. The internet is bad enough with illegitimate ID thieves than to sign up for a legitimized one.
The moral of the story is: Drop out of school, break the rules as big as you like, and you''ll become rich. WWJD?
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
I see that someone already posted about this, but to go into further detail about the word alumnus, or alum
1 : a person who has attended or has graduated from a particular school, college, or university
2 : a person who is a former member, employee, contributor, or inmate
Hey how about that INMATE!!.
Leslie most likely has her Masters in Communication, and here is this Harvard Dropout, worth 100 times her total wealth, and she is trying to correct him, and she was wrong to begin with.
Another Harvard Drop out who is an Alum is Billy, BAD BREATH, Gates, you may have heard of him (Microsoft?)
My wife told me I was wrong till I showed her in the dictionary, then she informed me that the professors at UCONN told her that only College Grads were considered ALUMs, guess no one showed them a dictionary.
Lets fact check before we insult young impressionable 23 year old BILLIONAIRES.
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See all 125 Comments