‘MONEY HAS CHANGED HIS DRESSING STYLE’ - FACEBOOK FOUNDER, MARK ZUCKERBERG'S WIFE REVEALS
Mark Zuckerberg's famously private wife Priscilla Chan has
given her first television interview, opening up about her marriage, growing up
with refugee parents and her billionaire husband's trademark clothing item -
hoodies.
Chan, 29, revealed little has changed since she first met
the Facebook founder at a Harvard University fraternity party more than a
decade ago.
'He has graduated to a nicer hoodie. The main quality about
this hoodie that's nicer is that it's softer, so he's really excited about
that,' she said, in an exclusive interview with Today's Savannah
Guthrie.
'I’m pro-hoodie. He wears a fresh hoodie every day so that pretty
much meets my lowest barrier for him...I'm happy with whatever he wants to
wear, as long as it's appropriate for where we're going.'
While the recent medical graduate normally shuns the
limelight, she has bared all for the first time in order to promote a cause
dear to her heart - education.
Priscilla Chan (left) told Today's Savannah
Guthrie (right) in an exclusive interview that she didn't mind her husband Mark
Zuckerberg wearing hoodies, as long as they suited the occasion
|
Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan met as Harvard
classmates and dated for nearly a decade before tying the knot in May 2012 in
their backyard
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Priscilla Chan Said,
she and her husband Mark Zuckerberg treat their
Hungarian sheep dog beast like a child |
The power couple today pledged
$120 million to the San Francisco school district through their
foundation, Startup: Education, to improve technology used in the classrooms
over the next five years.
'We live in Palo Alto, which has, fortunately, one of the greatest school districts in the country,' the medical resident said.
'But right next door, actually within walking distance of
our home, is East Palo Alto that has a K-8 system that has a lot of unmet needs
that the public school district is struggling to make up the difference for at
this time.'
Chan, who is training to become a pediatrician, said the
education of underprivileged children is hugely important to her, as her
parents were refugees (Chinese and Vietnamese) and she was the first in her
family to go to college.
She was an interpreter for her grandparents who didn't speak English and was encouraged to go to college by her teachers.
'My public school teachers did a great job of saying,
‘Check this out. You're qualified for this. You should explore these
opportunities.' They're the ones who said, ‘You know, apply to Harvard. You
might be a good fit here',' Chan, who speaks English, Cantonese and Spanish
fluently, said.
'And then when I got to Harvard, it was even more
opportunities that I didn't know existed. So their effects have only compounded
over time.'
Chan and Zuckerberg, 30, have made philanthropy a central theme of their life together, joining Warren Buffet and Bill Gates's Giving Pledge to give away most of their wealth.
However, Chan has been forced to defend the couple's $100
million donation to Newark, New Jersey's public school system, with critics
saying the money has so far failed to fix the city's ailing school system.
After four years, the money is nearly gone and a lot of people are angry.
'We've invested in Newark's children, the schools and
teachers and these are long-term bets that need a number of years to really pan
out,' Chan, the eldest of three siblings, told Today.
'We've seen and learned how important it is to listen to
the community, and really get a sense of what they need and want. And it's a
long journey.'
Meanwhile Chan and Zuckerberg have been on their own long
journey. The pair married in their Palo Alto backyard in 2012 after dating for
nine years.
They would like to have children, but so far are obsessed
with their Hungarian sheep dog Beast, who is like their child and has his own
Facebook page.
Chan, however, admits her first impressions of the social
network mogul weren't very good.
'I thought he was just this really interesting guy, who really wasn't that studious,' she said.
'On our first date, he told me that he'd rather go on a
date with me than finish his take-home midterm. The type-A first child in me was
appalled.'
The Massachusetts native said she tried to send him home so he could
finish the test, which made her beau think she wasn't interested.
'Turns out he was just trying to convince me to spend more
time with him,' she said. 'And I've since learned that he's very bright. And
his type of learning is different than my approach to learning.'
However Chan's learning standards are very high, having
been voted 'class genius' in high school.
'I actually had a lot of very smart peers. The other 'class
genius' is now a nuclear physicist,' she told Today.
As for being described as the first lady of Facebook and
the Kate Middleton of social media, the medical resident said it is
cringe-worthy, and she would rather be known for her work with Bay Area
schools.
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