Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s growing closeness with the Trump administration and his appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast left his employees and coworkers horrified and feeling betrayed, a report by the Financial Times said.
Forty-five anonymous people who know or have worked with Zuckerberg told the news outlet that his apparent transformation into “MAGA Mark,” as some at the company have begun calling him, has been a radical makeover.
“We are, they say, witnessing a Revenge of the Nerds-style midlife crisis. For Zuckerberg to so theatrically align himself with the Maga movement and the “manosphere”, a constellation of anti-woke, alpha male influencers, seemed like a total break from his image as a supporter of social justice. In interviews, current and former staff used language such as “grieving”, “horror” and “betrayal” to describe how they felt,” the report said.
Appearing on the Joe Rogan podcast, Zuckerberg made controversial comments, such as calling corporate America “culturally neutered” and calling for more “masculine energy” in workplaces.
‘He saw Elon Musk was popular’
The comments triggered a wave of internal backlash at Meta, with a few executives even raising the issue at a company meeting. However, the Meta boss reportedly dismissed the concerns. “He basically said: ‘If you don’t like it, tough s**t’,” one Meta staffer told Financial Times.
Zuckerberg’s appearance and tone have changed along with his tone. Shearling coats and gold chains have replaced the plain grey T-shirts and hoodies. The buzz cut has been swapped with a ginger mullet.
On the podcast, Zuckerberg compared MMA training to workplace dynamics, saying it’s better to channel aggression constructively than suppress it. “In a lot of the corporate world, I think there’s this bias where you think that aggression or intensity is inherently bad. But it’s not. I actually think it’s useful. You want to be able to channel that energy,” he said.
Some staffers believe Mark Zuckerberg grew frustrated that Elon Musk was widely seen as the bold, visionary innovator, while he wasn’t given the same recognition. “He saw that Elon Musk was popular among the tech bros. There was a push to make him cool. The core of the Social Network movie is true — he just wants people to like him,” an insider said, in the report.
