Mark Zuckerberg’s daughter wanted to be like Taylor Swift – he told her ‘you can’t’
The Meta CEO made the comments on Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal’s ‘Acquired Podcast’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Mark Zuckerberg revealed his daughter told him she wanted to be like Taylor Swift one day.
The 40-year-old Meta CEO, who shares three daughters with his wife Priscilla Chan, said he was forced to bring his seven-year-old kid back to reality when she told him her life aspiration.
Speaking on the Acquired Podcast, Zuckerberg recounted the interaction he had with his second eldest daughter, August. The Facebook founder was thinking about the advice he’d give to anyone looking to start and grow their own business. For him, this topic sparked the memory of August telling him how she wanted to be exactly like her favorite popstar.
“One day, my daughter. We took her to a Taylor Swift concert and she was like, ‘You know Dad, I kind of want to be like Taylor Swift when I grow up,’” Zuckerberg explained during the episode filmed on September 10. “I was like, ‘But you can’t. That’s not available to you.’”
“She thought about it and she’s like, ‘Alright when I grow up I want people to want to be like August Chan Zuckerberg,’” he told podcast hosts Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal. “And I was like, ‘Hell yeah. Hell yeah.’”
Zuckerberg has been a fan of Swift for some time now. He even accompanied his daughters – Maxima, eight, August, and Aurelia, 17 months – to the Grammy winner’s Eras Tour concert in California last July.
Like the rest of Swift’s screaming fans, Zuckerberg arrived bedazzled and decked out in friendship bracelets, capturing the night dancing with his children alongside Chan, his wife of 12 years.
The multi-billionaire tied the knot with the 39-year-old philanthropist in 2012. The duo met during their years at Harvard University together. In 2003, Zuckerberg and Chan were standing in line for the bathroom at a party for the media mogul’s fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi.
At the time, Zuckerberg had just been caught for launching “Facemash,” the online site that ranked students on campus by their level of attraction. Thinking he was going to get kicked out of school, Zuckerberg opened with a line that would make it impossible for Chan to say “no” to.
He told her: “I’m going to get kicked out in three days, so we need to go on a date quickly.” Zuckerberg admitted this fact during his 2017 commencement speech at Harvard.
Though Zuckerberg wasn’t exactly praised for the creation of “Facemash,” he considers it to be the reason why he’s with his wife. In the commencement address, he noted: “She’s the most important person in my life, so you could say it was the most important thing I built in my time here.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments