I have thought a lot about this over the years, in particular because I went to high school with Dustin Moskovitz, who was Mark's roommate and cofounder at Face

I have thought a lot about this over the years, in particular because I went to high school with Dustin Moskovitz, who was Mark's roommate and cofounder at Facebook. Dustin and I are only the barest of acquaintances at this point, so nothing I say should be construed as inside information. Mark started Facebook when he was 18. Being the CEO of Facebook is the only real job he's ever had, and it's been a rocket ship since Day 1. Kudos to his brilliance, but it doesn't change the fact that this is literally his first job. It's a very unique situation he is in - running a company that took over 1/6th of the world being the only job you've ever had. Perhaps that does deserve some sympathy. But you learn from being exposed to a variety of situations. You develop tremendously more perspective by getting out and doing different things. You are forced to consider things you never would have considered if you had not moved onto something new. It gives you a much deeper view of how most of society works. If this were a mom-and-pop grocery shop, it wouldn't matter so much if the boss had been doing it since 18. There are other competitors who can step in if you suddenly start selling all of your customers' purchase information to the local banks and real estate agents. That isn't the situation with Facebook, though. They are too powerful at this point. The author of this article is correct in saying it would be best for society if someone more civically minded were running the company.