Mark Zuckerberg reveals why he shut down daughter, 7, when she told him she wanted to be like Taylor Swift
Mark Zuckerberg has revealed he shut his seven-year-old daughter up when she told him she wanted to be like Taylor Swift when she grew up.
Meta’s CEO told the Acquired podcast that it’s “not feasible” for his middle child, August Chan Zuckerberg, to follow in the pop star’s footsteps.
The father of three made the comments as part of a broader argument about the importance of originality and authenticity in the tech world.
“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 told podcast hosts Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal.
“I thought, ‘But that can’t be. That’s not available to you,’” he continued.
Mark Zuckerberg has revealed he shut his seven-year-old daughter August up when she told him she wanted to be like Taylor Swift when she grew up. Pictured: Zuckerberg with his wife and three daughters
“She thought about it and she was like, ‘Okay, when I grow up, I want people to want to be like August Chan Zuckerberg.’ And I was like, ‘Hell yeah. Hell yeah.'”
Zuckerberg, 40, has been a fan of fellow billionaire Swift, 34, for years.
He wrote that he had attended her Eras Tour in Santa Clara last July with his wife Priscilla and their daughters.
He shared a photo of himself decked out in the face gems and friendship bracelets that have become synonymous with the tour.
He posted the photo with the caption, “The life of a girl dad,” followed by another photo of him checking his emails on the way to the event.
The couple have three daughters: Maxima, eight, August and Aurelia, thirteen months old.
He made these statements about Swift in response to a question about what advice he would give to tech entrepreneurs.
Meta’s CEO told the Acquired podcast that it’s “not feasible” for his middle child to follow in the pop star’s footsteps
“Do something you care about,” Zuckerberg said. “If you’re trying to figure out a strategy, learn as quickly as you can.”
“But part of what I’m trying to say is I think there are different ways to build things. Our way worked for me and our team, but other things have clearly worked for other companies.”
Zuckerberg posted a message on Instagram about his experiences with the podcast.
“A fun evening at the Chase Center as we discuss the lessons from the early days and talk about the future of the next decade in social media, technology and AI,” he said.
Zuckerberg recently got permission to train his new Meta AI technology using billions of British Facebook and Instagram posts.
Zuckerberg is a fan of Taylor Swift and posted this photo when he attended her Eras Tour with his daughter last year
While a fan of Swift, Zuckerberg made a broader point about the need for originality and authenticity among tech builders
Meta has not yet launched its AI tools in the UK or EU due to concerns from regulators.
Talks with the EU remain deadlocked. But Meta said the UK would now allow it to harvest billions of public posts and images.
Meta said it would not use private messages from people or material from under-18s.
Zuckerberg was recently named to TIME Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in AI.