False: Mark Zuckerberg is David Rockefeller’s grandson, and the Rothschilds own 10% of Meta shares.

By: Ishita Goel
August 22 2022

Share Article:

Context:

An Instagram post sharing an image with several claims has pictures of Meta/Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, American banker David Rockefeller, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) logo together. This image has been making rounds on various platforms for nearly a decade. The text in the image says Zuckerberg's real name is ‘Jacob Greenberg’, and he is David Rockefeller's grandson. The text further claims that the European banking dynasty, the Rothschild family, owns nearly 10 percent of all Facebook shares, and a CIA-owned bank funded Facebook. The caption of the post reads, "DO YOU STILL THINK FACEBOOK WAS CREATED BY A BOARED (BORED) NO NAME STUDENT !"

In fact:

The family tree of Mark Zuckerberg is drawn by the website ‘Geneanet’ launched by genealogy enthusiasts. According to the tree, Mark's parents are Edward Zuckerberg and Karen Kempner. His paternal grandparents are Jacob 'Jack' Zuckerberg and Miriam Hollander; his maternal grandparents are Sidney G Kempner and Gertrude Silver. In November 2015, celebrating Veterans day, Mark posted a Facebook post about his grandfather Jack Zuckerberg who served in World War II. Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) published a news release in 2021 announcing Mark and his wife Priscilla Chan funding a $500 million gift to support the institute. It honored Zuckerberg's mother and her parents, Sidney and Gertrude Kempner. Priscilla's parents are Dennis Chan and Yvonne Chan.

The Rockefeller Archive Center shows the Rockefeller family tree. David Rockefeller's parents are Abby Aldrich and John D. Rockefeller, Jr. David married Margaret (Peggy) McGrath and raised two sons and four daughters. In March 2017, the New York Times published David's obituary, which noted he was a grandparent to ten grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.No reports show Mark Zuckerburg is connected to David Rockefeller or that Mark's alleged real name is Jacob Greenberg. 

This claim about Mark Zuckerberg being allegedly related to Rockefeller dates back to 2012. In 2012, a mugshot of a person named Jacob Michael Greenberg went viral online. He was booked in Maricopa County, Arizona for marijuana possession. Several online users falsely claimed that the person in the mugshot was Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg due to the alleged resemblance between the two.

WhoOwnsFacebook.com, a guide to Meta's shareholders, lists the names of significant shareholders of Facebook. In 2005, Jeff Rothschild, an American billionaire who co-founded several companies, joined Facebook and became a shareholder. In February 2014, Forbes wrote an article on Jeff when he gave his services to Facebook on the engineering platform. To note, Forbes mentioned that Jeff had no relation to the wealthy banking family of the same name. The Rothschild family was one of the most successful international bankers of the 1800s. Their wealth influenced several economic outcomes of the time, according to Encyclopedia Britannica and The Rothschild Archive. They have been previously named in several conspiracy theories such as the New World Order and the Great Reset. There is no evidence that the Rothschild family owns shares in Meta. 

Further, no evidence suggests that Facebook was funded with money (amounting to $500,000,000 or so) from a CIA-owned bank. In 2011, The Onion published a satirical piece with the headline: "CIA's 'Facebook' Program Dramatically Cut Agency's Costs." This article had raised questions about Facebook funding. 

Britannica records that in 2004, Facebook was founded by students at Harvard University— Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes. Initially, credit card company MasterCard started paying Facebook for exposure on the site. Facebook was formed by Harvard students to share personal information, college-related news, and photographs, and then the website gradually turned into a global platform. There is no connection on record between Facebook's establishment to any wealthy family.

Mark Zuckerburg has been pulled into several conspiracy theories claiming elites of the globe are trying to control the world. Mark is also believed to be an Illuminati (an alleged centuries-old group consisting of some elites that control the world) member and part of a reptilian conspiracy theory. These theories have been debunked several times over the decade. 

The verdict:

All the claims raised in this image are not backed by any substantial evidence. Facts related to Meta/Facebook share and the organization's founders are available to the public. Hence, we have marked this claim false.