Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is giving $100 million to schools in Newark, N.J. via “The Oprah Winfrey Show” on Friday, September 24.
The donation will coincide with the October 1 wide-release of the much hyped movie, “The Social Network”, which is loosely based on Zuckerberg’s time spent at Harvard developing facebook. Zuckerberg is portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland, Adventureland) as an ego driven and greedy socially awkward genius who stole the original idea from fellow students.
Director David Fincher (Seven, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Fight Club) based the movie on Ben Mezrich’s book “The Accidental Billionaires” and script writer Aaron Sorkin’s own research. However, neither Mezrich or Sorkin were able to get Zuckerberg to sit down for an interview. Both sources drew information for the plot and characters through legal hearings stemmed from multiple lawsuits by burned associates of Zuckerberg.
Acclaimed film critic Todd McCarthy feels, “the film centers on an unruly man whose life fascinates because of the extraordinary things he did but also because of the callous ways he treated those closest to him. He is a monster…but always compelling.”
It should also be noted that Zuckerberg is referred to as an assh*** numerous times throughout the picture.
Despite being ranked as the 35th richest person on the Forbes 400 list and the youngest billionaire in history, the 26-year-old’s upcoming $100 million donation is his first endeavor into the world of high-profile philanthropy. It seems to me that his donation is fueled by an effort to fend off any bad publicity generated as a result of the film and the accusations it brings to light. Am I wrong?
Whatever his motive may be for the generous gift, he can certainly expect to have the friend requests from Newark, N.J. pouring in by the thousands – that can’t be a bad thing, right?
