The Evolution of Mark Zuckerberg: From Political Idealist to Cautious Observer
It was only a little more than a decade ago that Mark Zuckerberg had few qualms about airing his politics. Earnest and optimistic—perhaps naïvely so—he rushed onto the national stage to discuss issues he cared about: immigration, social justice, inequality, and democracy in action. He penned columns in national newspapers espousing his views, spun up foundations and philanthropic efforts, and hired hundreds of people to put his vast riches to work on his political goals. That was Mark Zuckerberg in his 20s. Mark Zuckerberg in his 40s is a very different Mark Zuckerberg.
A Shift in Perspective
In conversations over the past few years with friends, colleagues, and advisers, Mr. Zuckerberg has expressed cynicism about politics after years of bad experiences in Washington. He and others at the top of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, believed that both parties loathed technology and that trying to continue engaging with political causes would only draw further scrutiny to their company. As recently as June at the Allen and Company conference—the “summer camp for billionaires” in Sun Valley, Idaho—Mr. Zuckerberg complained to multiple people about the blowback to Meta that came from the more politically touchy aspects of his philanthropic efforts. He even expressed regret for hiring employees at his philanthropy who tried to push him further to the left on some causes. In short—he was over it.
A New Approach to Politics
His preference, according to more than a dozen friends, advisers, and executives familiar with his thinking, has been to wash his hands of it all. In public, that means Mr. Zuckerberg is declining to engage with Washington except when necessary. In private, he has stopped supporting programs at his philanthropy that could be perceived as partisan and has tamped down employee activism at Meta. He has also spoken to former President Donald J. Trump in one-on-one telephone calls twice over the summer, a move that some have characterized as an attempt to repair a long-strained relationship between the two men.
Regrets and Reflections
“The political environment, I think I didn’t have much sophistication around, and I think I just fundamentally misdiagnosed the problem,” Mr. Zuckerberg said during a recent interview at a live podcast event in San Francisco. Last month, he publicly expressed regret around some of his political activity in a letter to Congress. He stated that in 2021, the Biden administration “pressured” Meta into censoring more Covid-19 content than he felt comfortable with. He also indicated that he would not repeat the contributions he made in 2020 to support electoral infrastructure because the gifts made him appear not “neutral.”
A Broader Shift in Silicon Valley
Mr. Zuckerberg’s evolution has drawn comparatively little attention compared to that of tech titans like Elon Musk, who have publicly attached themselves to conservatives and Mr. Trump. However, it reflects a larger shift in Silicon Valley, where chief executives have grown frustrated with contentious social issues. “Mark and his peers are probably looking at the risks of political engagement and deciding neutrality is the safer choice until this election is over,” said Nu Wexler, a principal at the political consulting firm Four Corners Public Affairs and a former Facebook employee.
Personal Politics and New Ideologies
Privately, Mr. Zuckerberg now considers his personal politics to be more like libertarianism or “classical liberalism,” according to people who have spoken to him recently. This includes a hostility to regulation that restricts business, an embrace of free markets and globalism, and an openness to social-justice reforms—but only if it stops short of what he considers far-left progressivism. Moreover, he and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, have been privately aghast about what they see as a rise of antisemitism on college campuses, including at their alma mater, Harvard.
From Advocacy to Caution
This shift is significant for an executive who in 2013 helped found and became the public face of the political advocacy organization Fwd.US, aimed at creating a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Two years later, inspired by Bill Gates, Mr. Zuckerberg and Dr. Chan established the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a philanthropic organization that poured $436 million over five years into issues such as legalizing drugs and reducing incarceration.
In 2015, Mr. Zuckerberg and Dr. Chan wrote a letter to their newborn daughter, dreaming of an egalitarian world where they could “eliminate poverty and hunger,” “provide everyone with basic health care,” and “nurture peaceful and understanding relationships between people of all nations.” He hired a former top Obama adviser, David Plouffe, to oversee the work.
The Backlash and Its Consequences
However, over the next few years, Facebook faced accusations that Russians had used it to stoke divisions among voters. Mr. Zuckerberg and his company became a political lightning rod, with Democrats and Republicans blasting Facebook and its sister service Instagram for allowing too much—or too little—political speech. Beginning in 2019, Mr. Zuckerberg began to express bewilderment about the country’s changing politics. The scrutiny caused him to see his more overtly political work at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative as relatively ineffective.
Caught off guard by activism at their philanthropy, Mr. Zuckerberg and Dr. Chan faced internal pressures after the protests over the police killing of George Floyd in 2020. A C.Z.I. employee asked Mr. Zuckerberg during a staff meeting to resign from Facebook or the initiative because of his unwillingness at the time to moderate comments from Mr. Trump. This incident, among others, upset Mr. Zuckerberg, pushing him away from the foundation’s progressive political work.
A New Direction for Philanthropy
In 2021, Mr. Zuckerberg and Dr. Chan decided to end the group’s internal political work and instead fund two bipartisan groups, including Fwd.us, working on those issues. Many of its 30 or so employees who focused on politics resigned, were reassigned, or were sent to those two groups. After the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade, some employees at the initiative wanted the organization to focus on protecting abortion access. However, Dr. Chan sent a memo to employees firmly refusing to do that, emphasizing the need to stay focused on science, education, and community work.
The Future of Meta and Zuckerberg’s Role
Today, Mr. Zuckerberg, one of the initiative’s two chief executives with Dr. Chan, is less involved than he was two or three years ago. Other incidents piled up, including criticism for donating $400 million to the nonprofit Center for Tech and Civic Life to help promote safety at voting booths during pandemic lockdowns. While Mr. Zuckerberg and Dr. Chan viewed their contributions as a nonpartisan effort, they faced backlash from conservatives who labeled the donations “Zuckerbucks.”
In private conversations, Mr. Zuckerberg and Dr. Chan have voiced some regret about these contributions and how much they backfired. Inside Meta, the executive team has clamped down on politics, introducing policies that forbid employees from raising contentious issues in the workplace.
Repairing Relationships Behind the Scenes
Instead of publicly engaging with Washington, Mr. Zuckerberg is now focused on repairing relationships with politicians behind the scenes. After the “Zuckerbucks” criticism, he hired Brian Baker, a prominent Republican strategist, to improve his positioning with right-wing media and Republican officials. As the November election approaches, Mr. Baker has emphasized to Mr. Trump and his top aides that Mr. Zuckerberg has no plans to make similar donations.
While Mr. Zuckerberg has yet to forge a relationship with Vice President Kamala Harris, he has had conversations with Mr. Trump, including a call where the former president thanked him for publicly stating that he was “praying” for him after a recent assassination attempt. They spoke again after Meta mistakenly took down images related to the incident, with Mr. Zuckerberg directly apologizing to Mr. Trump.
Looking Ahead
Mr. Zuckerberg has not deluded himself into thinking that downplaying politics will solve all his personal frustrations or his company’s problems entirely. However, he believes it is a step toward a more stable future for Meta. “I think it’s going to take another 10 years or so for us to fully work through that cycle before our brand is back to the place that it could have been,” he said at the podcast event, “if I hadn’t messed up in the first place.”