Only two of Facebook’s first 20 employees still work at the company — and you can probably guess one of them.
Most left during the social network’s early days to work at other tech companies or start their own. Several have become successful investors at large VC firms. Out of Facebook’s first 20 employees, only two were women. Many are now absurdly rich, following Facebook’s IPO in 2012.
Here’s where Facebook’s first 20 employees are now:
Dustin Moskovitz, Facebook’s first CTO, was Mark Zuckerberg’s roommate. The two dropped out of Harvard together to move to California and work on Facebook.
play Dustin Moskovitz, Facebook’s first CTO, was Mark Zuckerberg’s roommate. The two dropped out of Harvard together to move to California and work on Facebook.
(Asana)
Employed by Facebook: February 2004 – November 2009
Position: Cofounder
Where he is now: He’s the cofounder and CEO at enterprise software company Asana. He also cofounded Good Ventures, a philanthropic firm with the mission “to help humanity thrive.” He has a net worth of nearly $12 billion, according to Forbes.
Chris Hughes cofounded Facebook and served as the site’s first spokesman. He later coordinated all social networking aspects of Obama’s 2008 campaign.
play Chris Hughes cofounded Facebook and served as the site’s first spokesman. He later coordinated all social networking aspects of Obama’s 2008 campaign.
(Adam Hunger/Reuters)
Employed by Facebook: February 2004
Position at Facebook: Cofounder
Where he is now: After working on Obama’s 2008 campaign, Hughes became executive director of Jumo, a startup that tried to utilize social media to change the world. In 2012, he purchased a majority stake in The New Republic and became its executive chairman and editor-in-chief. He put the magazine up for sale in 2016 after it failed to become profitable.
Hughes is now co-chair of the Economic Security Project, a group that wants to make universal basic income a reality in the U.S.
Eduardo Saverin was a Facebook co-founder and its first CFO. He famously sued Mark Zuckerberg and the two reached a settlement.
play Eduardo Saverin was a Facebook co-founder and its first CFO. He famously sued Mark Zuckerberg and the two reached a settlement.
(Edgar Su/Reuters)
Employed by Facebook: February 2004
Position: Cofounder
Where he is now: After winning a legal battle with Facebook which let him retain his cofounder status, Saverin began angel investing in startups like Qwiki and Chris Hughes’ Jumo. In 2011, Saverin (who was born in Brazil) renounced his U.S. citizenship and moved to Singapore, likely because of the taxes he’d have to pay following Facebook’s public offering.
He says he has no hard feelings when it comes to Facebook or Mark Zuckerberg, who ousted him from the company shortly after its launch. Saverin has a net worth of roughly $8.7 billion, according to Forbes.
Sean Parker was an early employee at Napster and was founding president of Facebook.
play Sean Parker was an early employee at Napster and was founding president of Facebook.
(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Employed by Facebook: June 2004 – January 2006
Position: President
Where he is now: Parker has invested in a number of tech startups, including Spotify and Asana, and was a partner at VC firm Founder’s Fund until 2014. He has a personal net worth of roughly $2.6 billion.
More recently, he’s been experimenting with his own businesses. He tried to create a new buzzy video startup, Airtime, but it flopped. His most recent project is a platform for renting movies at home while they’re still in theaters, but it’s been met with backlash from Hollywood and theater unions.
Andrew McCollum designed Facebook’s first logo and worked on a side project with Zuckerberg called Wirehog.
play Andrew McCollum designed Facebook’s first logo and worked on a side project with Zuckerberg called Wirehog.
(Wownesia)
Employed by Facebook: February 2004 – September 2006
Position: Cofounder, engineer
Where he is now: McCollum joined Flybridge Capital Partners as an entrepreneur in residence in 2011. Then he became a partner at the VC firm NEA. Now he’s invested and involved in other tech startups, such as Quilt and JobSpice.
Taner Halicioglu was Facebook’s first “real” employee outside of the founders. He built out the entire initial hardware infrastructure.
play Taner Halicioglu was Facebook’s first “real” employee outside of the founders. He built out the entire initial hardware infrastructure.
(Facebook)
Employed by Facebook: October 2004 – November 2009
Position: Senior Software/Operations Engineer
Where he is now: Halicioglu became the Lead Reliability Engineer of Battle.net at Blizzard Entertainment. Now he is a lecturer at UC San Diego in the school’s Computer Science and Engineering department. He recently donated $75 million to the school to create its Halicioglu Institute of Data Science.
Naomi Gleit was tasked early on with making sure “literally everyone in the world was on the site.” Aside from Mark Zuckerberg, she’s the longest serving employee still at the company.
play Naomi Gleit was tasked early on with making sure “literally everyone in the world was on the site.” Aside from Mark Zuckerberg, she’s the longest serving employee still at the company.
(YouTube)
Employed by Facebook: April 2005 – Present
First position at Facebook: Marketing Associate
Her position now: Gleit is VP of Social Good at Facebook and one of Zuckerberg’s top lieutenants. She leads all of the company’s efforts around safety check, fundraising tools, and similar features.
Kevin Colleran lived with Zuckerberg in Facebook’s 2004 summer sublet house in Palo Alto. Now he’s a VC.
play Kevin Colleran lived with Zuckerberg in Facebook’s 2004 summer sublet house in Palo Alto. Now he’s a VC.
(LinkedIn)
Employed by Facebook: April 2005 – July 2011
Position at Facebook: Global Partnerships
Where he is now: Colleran was one of the last initial employees to leave Facebook. Now he’s managing director at VC firm Slow Ventures with Dave Morin and other early Facebook employees.
Gilles Mischler built and designed Facebook’s IT infrastructure from the ground up.
play Gilles Mischler built and designed Facebook’s IT infrastructure from the ground up.
(Linkedin)
Employed by Facebook: June 2005 – May 2010
Position: SiteOps Engineer
Where he is now: After Facebook, Mischler went to game developer Playdom. He was only there for a few weeks when the company was acquired by Disney for more than $700 million. Now he’s a network engineer at Dropbox.
You can thank engineer Scott Marlette for being able to visually stalk all of your friends. He created Facebook’s first photo application.
play You can thank engineer Scott Marlette for being able to visually stalk all of your friends. He created Facebook’s first photo application.
(Linkedin)
Employed by Facebook: June 2005 – January 2010
Position: Engineer, Product Manager
Where he is now: Marlette went on to co-found medical startup GoodRx. Now he’s a partner at VC firm Slow Ventures with other early Facebook employees.
Aaron Sittig was brought on early by Sean Parker from Napster. He created the concept of tagging friends in Facebook pictures and the “like” button.
play Aaron Sittig was brought on early by Sean Parker from Napster. He created the concept of tagging friends in Facebook pictures and the “like” button.
(LinkedIn)
Employed by Facebook: May 2005 – December 2o10, January 2011 – December 2012
Position: Design Strategy Lead, Product Architect
Where he is now: A close friend of Mark Zuckerberg, Sittig was Facebook’s first designer. He left the company in 2010 and returned in 2011 for a two-year stint as a product architect. In 2015, he became managing partner at Public Studio, a branding and design studio in San Francisco.
Nick Heyman was in charge of handling Facebook’s explosive traffic, although he wasn’t there for very long.
play Nick Heyman was in charge of handling Facebook’s explosive traffic, although he wasn’t there for very long.
(Twitter via @nheyman)
Employed by Facebook: April 2005
Position: Director of Operations
Where he is now: Heyman has worked at a few other tech companies, including Twitter. He’s also invested in startups such as Nuzzel and ShopPad.
Steve King directed Facebook’s media sales and was responsible for getting its first big advertisers on board, like Panasonic and Microsoft.
play Kevin Colleran, PJ Solomon, Tricia Black and Steve King were Facebook’s first ad sales team.
(Steve King via BizJournal)
Employed by Facebook: April 2005 – July 2006
Position at Facebook: Director, Media Sales
Where he is now: After Facebook, King joined LocaModa as its VP of Sales. Now he leads a boutique real estate investment firm in the Boston area.
Tricia Black worked at Y2M, a firm that sold ads for college magazines. Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin set up a meeting with Black, who began selling ads for Facebook and eventually became its first VP of Sales.
play Tricia Black worked at Y2M, a firm that sold ads for college magazines. Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin set up a meeting with Black, who began selling ads for Facebook and eventually became its first VP of Sales.
(LinkedIn)
Employed by Facebook: March 2005 – June 2006
Position at Facebook: VP, Advertising Sales
What she’s doing now: Black is the cofounder of Victress Capital, a VC firm that invests in female founders and diverse teams.
Steve Chen left Facebook after a few short months to help start YouTube.
play Steve Chen left Facebook after a few short months to help start YouTube.
(Twettey.com)
Employed by Facebook: For a few months in 2005
Position at Facebook: Senior Software Engineer
Where he is now: Chen went on to co-found YouTube, which he sold to Google for $1 billion. He co-founded another company, AVOS, in 2011. He now advises Google’s investment arm, GV.
Matt Cohler was brought on by early Facebook investor Peter Thiel and was formerly one of the founding members of LinkedIn. Now he’s a partner at Benchmark.
play Matt Cohler was brought on by early Facebook investor Peter Thiel and was formerly one of the founding members of LinkedIn. Now he’s a partner at Benchmark.
(LinkedIn)
Employed by Facebook: February 2005 – October 2008
Position at Facebook: VP Product Management
Where he is now: Cohler is a general partner at Benchmark Capital and serves on a number of startup boards, including Tinder and Greenhouse. He’s also a board observer of Uber.
Ezra Callahan had been roommates with Sean Parker and was hired to “whittle away” at Eduardo Saverin’s CFO responsibilities.
play Ezra Callahan had been roommates with Sean Parker and was hired to “whittle away” at Eduardo Saverin’s CFO responsibilities.
(Facebook)
Employed by Facebook: December 2004 – July 2010
Position: Manager of Internal Communications, Product Manager
Where he is now: Callahan hasn’t updated his LinkedIn profile since he left Facebook, but his Facebook profile shows that he lives in Pasadena, California with his family. A few years ago, he decided to invest in a Palm Springs hotel after he noticed millennials flocking there. Condé Nast Traveler dubbed it the “hotel of the future.”
James Pereira was Facebook’s 7th employee. He left three years later.
play James Pereira was Facebook’s 7th employee. He left three years later.
(Facebook)
Employed by Facebook: July 2004 – August 2007
Position: Engineer
Where he is now: He’s a software engineer at Boy Gorilla Enterprises in Portland, Oregon, according to his Facebook profile.
Dan Neff had a short, five-month stint as Facebook’s 20th employee and was responsible for rolling out new site features.
play Dan Neff had a short, five-month stint as Facebook’s 20th employee and was responsible for rolling out new site features.
(LinkedIn)
Employed by Facebook: May 2005 – October 2005
Position at Facebook: Build/Release Engineer
Where he is now: Adobe, where he’s held a couple of technical operational roles since 2009.
Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook. The blue design of the site is partially because of his red-green color blindness.
play Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook. The blue design of the site is partially because of his red-green color blindness.
(AP)
Employed by Facebook: February 2004 – Present
Position: CEO and cofounder
Where he is now: Still at Facebook but much, much richer.
BONUS: Adam D’Angelo was high school friends with Mark Zuckerberg and eventually left Facebook to cofound Quora.
play BONUS: Adam D’Angelo was high school friends with Mark Zuckerberg and eventually left Facebook to cofound Quora.
(Adam D’Angelo)
Employed by Facebook: November 2006 – June 2008. (Although he technically wasn’t one of the first 20 employees, D’Angleo was one of Zuckerberg’s best high school friends and worked on the social network site long before he was on the payroll.)
Position at Facebook: CTO
Where he is now: CEO and cofounder of Quora
