This photo provided by Facebook shows Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan at their wedding ceremony in Palo Alto, Calif., Saturday, May 19, 2012. Zuckerberg updated his status to "married" on Saturday. The ceremony took place in Zuckerberg's backyard before fewer than 100 guests, who all thought they were there to celebrate Chan's graduation. (Allyson Magda/AP)
Just one day after his company made its public trading debut, Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg wed Priscilla Chan, a woman he met during his years as an undergraduate student at Harvard. The Reliable Source reports:
The Facebook billionaire, 28, topped off a remarkable week with a surprise wedding Saturday to college sweetheart Priscilla Chan, 27. A hoodie was good enough for his pre-IPO meeting with Wall Street investors, but Zuckerberg — either by his own choice or at the insistence of his fiancee — donned a big-boy suit, white shirt and tie to mark the occasion. Yes, some things are sacred.
The wedding announcement was classic Facebook: Zuckerberg simply updated his profile to: “Married Priscilla Chan.” The news had almost 850,000 “likes” Sunday evening.
The couple pulled off the stealth nuptials by inviting 100 guests to what they thought was a surprise party for Chan, who graduated from medical school at the University of California at San Francisco last Monday — which also happened to be Zuckerberg’s birthday. “I’m so proud of you, Dr. Chan :).” he posted during the commencement ceremony.
But the surprise was on their friends: The wedding had been in the works for months, a friend of the couple told the Associated Press; the fact that it came one day after Facebook debuted on the stock market was entirely coincidental.
Details quickly leaked out, although none of the guests were willing to be quoted on the record. The ceremony took place in the backyard of the newlyweds’ Palo Alto, Calif., home. The bride wore a white dress with a lace overlay and received a simple ruby wedding ring designed by Zuckerberg. Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong sang, according to the Mercury News, and dinner came from the couple’s two favorite restaurants, Palo Alto Sol and Fuki Sushi. For dessert, there were Burdick Chocolate “mice” (tiny chocolate truffles in the shape of mice), which they ate during their first date. (Awww.)
Who is the woman who has captured the heart of one of the world’s youngest billionaires? Hayley Tsukayama reports:
Chan has managed to keep largely out of the spotlight despite being the girlfriend of one of the most-watched people in the country, and has earned a reputation of being very down to earth. According to Business Insider, Chan has set ground rules for the relationship, which include a stipulation that the two get one date night each week and at least 100 minutes of alone time — away from Facebook’s offices.
She joins the ranks of other impressive women who’ve been snagged by tech’s top executives, including: Anne Wojcicki, co-founder of genetic testing startup 23andMe, who is married to Google’s Sergey Brin; Laurene Powell Jobs, co-founder of the education outreach program College Track and widow of Apple’s Steve Jobs; and Melinda Gates, who co-chairs the foundation named for her and her husband, Microsoft’s Bill Gates.
The Associated Press had more details on the couple’s intimate ceremony:
Zuckerberg designed the ring featuring “a very simple ruby,” according to the person.
The ceremony took place in Zuckerberg’s backyard before fewer than 100 guests, including Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg.
The AP also wrote:
Rather than his trademark hoodie, Zuckerberg wore a suit for the ceremony, while his bride wore a traditional wedding dress.
Food was served family-style and included dishes from the couple’s favorite Palo Alto sushi restaurant. The two had been planning the marriage for months but were waiting until Chan had graduated to hold the wedding, the guest said.
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