The Most Talked About Billionaire of 2009

Are you a billionaire? Do you know any billionaires? Do you know the youngest billionaire? Most people in America would have trouble naming 5 billionaires, none the less name how they made their money. But did you know that the Most Talked about Billionaire of 2009 isn’t even 25 years old. He is one of the 77 American newcomers to the total of 1,125 billionaires in the world. That is a big billionaire list.  All these billionaires have a combined net worth of $4.4 trillion which is $900 million more than in 2008. That’s right, the billionaire list was even smaller last year.

But who is this 25 year old that holds the title for Most Talked About Billionaire of 2009, and youngest billionaire. It is none other than Facebook creator and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, Americas youngest billionaire. Zuckerberg made his fortune from a rather well known online social networking directory that connects people with friends, co-workers, and anybody else who also has a Facebook account.

Mark Zuckerberg started early on programming and creating computer programs. Who would have guessed that this hobby would eventually turn into the most popular social networking site? Facebook was launched on February 4, 2004 and took of like a wild fire. Facebook started at Harvard as a Harvard thing, but Mark decided to spread it to other colleges. He first introduced Facebook to Stanford.

Throughout the years Facebook has had to deal with complaints, controversy and even a lawsuit. The lawsuit was with a company called ConnectU. ConnectU said Mark stole their idea that they were planning on doing with their site. They claimed this all happened when Zuckerberg was employed by them. The lawsuit was settled on June 25, 2008 for $65 million. This was no problem for Facebook, because back in 2007 Microsoft purchased a 1.6% stake in the company for $240 million. This price tag would suggest that the market value of facebook at that time was $15 Billion. That is why Mark Zuckerberg is America’s youngest billionaire and most talked about billionaire of 2009.

Question: What would you do if you were 23 years old, and Americas youngest billionaire?