How Bill Gates knew he was different
Feb 20, 2025
The Harvard dropout who became a billionaire in his 30s, Bill Gates revolutionized the computer industry and, later, the world of philanthropy. Now he has been looking back at his childhood, with the first of a three-part autobiography fittingly titled "Source Code." He discusses his rebelliousness and competitiveness with correspondent Lee Cowan, and talks about how, growing up, he viewed nearly everything through the prism of mathematics.
Mark Zuckerberg looks very different these days.
Compare 2021 to today.
For years, he was mocked for being robotic and emotionless.
There are videos with millions of views titled Mark Zuckerberg pretending to be human or
why Mark Zuckerberg talks like a robot.
Now there's a noticeable shift.
Zuckerberg seems more human.
And I'm not just talking about that moment during the inauguration when he was caught
staring at Jeff Bezos' fiancée Lauren Sanchez's cleavage.
Again and again.
He's grown out his curly hair, wears a gold chain, oversized t-shirts and a $900,000 watch.
You look different.
When you walked in here today, you look thicker, you look like a different guy.
Your neck is bigger.
Good.
But it's not just his appearance or demeanor that's changed, he's going out of his way
to praise Trump.
On a personal note, seeing Donald Trump get up after getting shot in the face and pump
his fist in the air with the American flag is one of the most badass things I've ever
seen in my life.
This is the same Zuckerberg who was accused of censoring conservatives, including banning
Donald Trump from Facebook following the January 6th Capitol riots, who oversaw Facebook's
suppression of a New York Post exposé about Hunter Biden's laptop in the critical days
leading up to the 2020 presidential election, a story that later turned out to be true.
Facebook justified this by claiming the FBI warned about potential Russian disinformation
and who removed posts early in the pandemic suggesting COVID-19 originated from a lab
in Wuhan, China, a theory now considered the most likely explanation.
Mark Zuckerberg now seems to be shifting the blame for Mehta's policy decisions.
On Joe Rogan's podcast, he claimed the Biden administration pressured Facebook to censor
content.
These people from the Biden administration would call up our team and like scream at
them and curse and it's like these documents are, it's all kind of out there and basically
it just got to this point where we were like, no, we're not going to, we're not going to
take down things that are true.
That's ridiculous.
Um, they wanted us to take down this meme of Leonardo DiCaprio looking at a TV talking
about how 10 years from now or something, if you took a COVID vaccine, you're eligible
for, you know, like a class action lawsuit type meme.
And they're like, no, you have to take that down.
We said, no, we're not going to take down humor and satire.
We're not going to take down things that are, that are true.
So why the change of heart?
The top YouTube comment on the Rogan interview sums it up.
This is what, I'm sorry, I want to be on the winning side looks like.
Much like the shifting political winds, Zuckerberg's stance appears to be changing.
The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards once again prioritizing
With Trump's decisive win, taking all six swing states and the popular vote, free speech
has become a central issue.
On his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order to restore freedom of speech
and end what he considers federal censorship on social media, accusing the Biden administration
of having trampled free speech rights.
And now Mark Zuckerberg, the man once at the center of that very censorship, is siding
with Trump.
And we've reached a point where it's just too many mistakes and too much censorship.
So we're gonna get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies
and restoring free expression on our platforms.
One of the biggest shifts, the end of Meta's fact checking.
A select group of news organizations has handled fact checking on Facebook and Instagram just
before Trump's first term in office.
Now Zuckerberg has turned against the very program Meta has relied on for nine years.
I think people just felt like the fact checkers were too biased.
Not necessarily even so much in what they ruled, although sometimes I think people would
disagree with that.
A lot of the time, it was just what types of things they chose to even go and fact check
in the first time, in the first place.
It just got to a point where it's just, OK, this is destroying so much trust, especially
in the United States to have this program.
Fact checkers fired back in an open letter.
Your comments suggest fact checkers were responsible for censorship, even though Meta never gave
fact checkers the ability or authority to remove content or accounts.
The reality is that Meta staff decided on how content found to be false by fact checkers
should be downranked or labeled.
Meta is replacing fact checking with a system similar to X's community notes, where the
public rather than a select group can add context to posts that may be misleading or
outright false.
Meta has also scaled back its diversity, equity and inclusion programs designed to promote
inclusivity, aligning with other major corporations like Target, Ford, McDonald's and Walmart.
Meta also removed tampons for men's restrooms and transgender and non-binary themes for
Messenger.
This marks a significant shift for Zuckerberg, who has previously championed LGBTQ plus rights.
But now his actions seem to reflect resistance to what he sees as progressive corporate culture.
Just I think a lot of the corporate world is is like pretty culturally neutered.
And and I just think like having, you know, I grew up I have three sisters, no brothers.
I have three daughters, no sons.
So I'm like surrounded by girls and women like my whole life.
And it's like, I think, I don't know, the the kind of masculine energy I think is is
good.
Yeah.
Obviously, you know, society has plenty of that.
But but I think corporate culture was really trying to get away from it.
It would be a mistake to think that this transformation happened overnight.
If you look closely, Mark Zuckerberg's evolution has been underway ever since he took up Brazilian
jujitsu and MMA during the pandemic.
I think having a culture that like celebrates the aggression a bit more has its own merits
that are really positive.
Zuckerberg's embrace of his rugged lifestyle also includes raising Wagyu and Angus cattle
on his Hawaiian ranch.
If I'm ever done with Metta, I'm gonna run Mark's Meats.
He's feeding them a luxurious diet of beer and macadamia nuts to produce some of the
highest quality beef in the world.
A sharp contrast from a decade ago when he was basically a vegetarian, vowing to eat
meat only from animals that he personally killed.
But is this transformation a result of genuine personal growth and a change in beliefs?
Or is there a more calculating motive?
As a billionaire leading a massive tech empire, Zuckerberg undoubtedly has a PR team carefully
shaping his public image.
Do they influence his decision to make high profile podcast appearances?
Could this new Mark Zuckerberg be a calculated move to curry favor with the Trump administration?
Or in the words of Rolling Stone, to kiss Trump's ass?
Could it be a way to win over conservative voters?
While Facebook's user base continues to grow, its growth rate has slowed significantly over
the past decade, especially among younger users.
And in 2024, Metta stopped reporting Facebook's total user numbers in its quarterly earnings,
instead grouping it within its family of apps.
Is this a way to hide stagnation?
Meanwhile, competitors like X emphasize minimal censorship, attracting audiences who feel
alienated by big tech.
In other words, this change isn't just about Zuckerberg, it's good for Metta's bottom line.
Whether his actions reflect a calculated business decision, a personal evolution, or both, one
thing is clear.
He no longer looks or acts like the leader he once was.
Zuckerberg recently shared in a Facebook post that Metta plans to invest up to $65 billion
this year to expand its AI infrastructure.
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Thanks for watching.
For Newsthink, I'm Cindy Pom.