Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is one of the most successful college dropouts. But now he’s going back to Harvard University — as the commencement speaker.
The university announced on Tuesday that Zuckerberg will address graduates at the 366th commencement ceremony on May 25.
Zuckerberg founded Facebook while a Harvard sophomore in 2004 before dropping out to work on the company. The social network was once exclusively for college students, but now is used by more than 1 billion people each day.
In a video posted to his Facebook page, Zuckerberg joked with Microsoft cofounder and fellow Harvard dropout Bill Gates about the speaking engagement. Gates was the Harvard commencement speaker back in 2007, the same year Zuckerberg’s wife, pediatrician Priscilla Chan, graduated from the university.
“They know we didn’t actually graduate, right?” Zuckerberg says in the video.
Harvard President Drew G. Faust said in a statement that “Mark Zuckerberg’s leadership has profoundly altered the nature of social engagement worldwide.”
But the administration wasn’t always so impressed with him. In 2003, Zuckerberg made facemash.com — a “hot or not” for students. He was accused of “breaching security, violating copyrights and violating individual privacy,” according to the Harvard Crimson, and had to face an administrative board to determine whether he should be kicked out.
The video posted on Facebook ends with text that reads “Tune in May 25.” It’s unclear whether Zuckerberg plans to livestream the event on his page. Facebook and Harvard did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.
Zuckerberg isn’t the only Facebook exec speaking to graduating students this year. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg will deliver the commencement address at Virginia Tech University on May 12.
