He runs the most influential platform on the planet, and he plans to connect every corner of it. But as facebook grows, so do its problems.
At just 32 years old, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has accomplished more than most technology executives could ever dream of—founding and running the world’s biggest and most powerful platform that has single-handedly upended how we communicate and consume media and entertainment, while turning it into a digital advertising juggernaut.
Facebook practically prints money, having earned a staggering $18.5 billion in ad revenue through three quarters of this year, up from full-year 2015’s $17.9 billion. Meanwhile, 1.2 billion users access Facebook every day. And the Menlo Park, Calif.-based company is poised to harness even more power via innovations in virtual reality and artificial intelligence, bringing live streaming to the masses and Internet-beaming drones—just a few steps he hopes will keep Facebook light years ahead of competitors.
Some of those opportunities also represent the biggest obstacles for Zuckerberg—Adweek Hot List’s Digital Executive of the Year—as observers increasingly question Facebook’s colossal size in shaping and controlling media and advertising. But don’t expect those challenges to stall the CEO’s ambitious plan to connect the world though his platform. Facebook has become like its own planet that’s too big to be stopped and can seemingly weather any PR disaster thrown its way.
“They have very few blind spots—that’s pretty amazing,” notes Robbie Whiting, co-founder and chief technology officer at Junior. “Zuckerberg has an innateability to understand the types of things that underpin the next generation of Facebook products.”
This story is from the November 28, 2016 edition of ADWEEK.
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This story is from the November 28, 2016 edition of ADWEEK.
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