Mark Zuckerberg infamously dropped out of Harvard (like all the greats) to found a major company and attempt to take over the world. Facebook has panned out pretty well for the entrepreneur so far, but up until now The Zuck has never gone back to finish his degree in order to be able to call himself a college graduate. Not that that matters when you are worth billions of dollars and influence how much of the world interacts with each other online.
But now, Zuckerberg will finally snag that degree — even if he doesn’t necessarily have to go back to class to do it. The Facebook founder will be returning to the Harvard campus this spring to give the commencement speech to the Class of 2017, and as part of that event he will also be granted an honorary degree for his trouble. While he probably won’t make the speech too political, it would be pretty great if Mark decided to throw in somecomments about Trump’s immigration ban or some ruthless Nickelback shade.
Harvard President Drew Faust talked to the Harvard Gazette about the choice, saying
“Few inventions in modern times can rival Facebook in its far-reaching impact on how people around the globe interact with one another,” she explained. “And few individuals can rival Mark Zuckerberg in his drive to change our world through the innovative use of technology, as well as his commitment to advance science, enhance education, and expand opportunity through the pursuit of philanthropy.
That’s a pretty unimpeachable resume by any standard, so the decision makes sense. In a nod to that other billionaire tech scion who dropped out of Harvard only to eventually return in grand style for his own commencement speech, Harvard released a video of Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates chatting about what the former should say in his speech.
While Zuckerberg decides on what to write for the big day in May, the rest of us will have to be content re-watching The Social Network and pretending that we are also tech billionaires who didn’t even need a college degree to do it.