Double Down: Mark Zuckerberg says it?s a good time to invest in Facebook. Image by getty images

By Aiden Pink April 20, 2017

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg credited his “Jewish mother” for giving him the willpower to turn down a $1 billion buyout offer from Yahoo! in 2006 – at a time when he was only 22 years old and the social network was only making $20 million in revenue.

Mike Hoefflinger, Facebook’s former director of global business marketing, recounted the story in his book “Becoming Facebook,” which came out earlier this month. Hoefflinger recalled being present at a lunch meeting in 2009 between Zuckerberg and legendary businessman Andy Grove, the former CEO of Intel.

Grove, trying, in Hoeflinger’s words, to “determine the legitimacy—his bar was notoriously high—of his lunch companion,” asked Zuckerberg how he turned down Yahoo’s offer, a decision for which he was heavily criticized at the time.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“I just thought we could do it,” Zuckerberg replied, adding that he believed at the time that Facebook could grow to become a successful company with a much higher valuation.

“Where does that willpower come from?” Grove asked.

As Hoefflinger wrote, “Zuckerberg considered the question—possibly for the first time—and concluded simply, ‘Jewish mother.’”

Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected] or on Twitter at @aidenpink.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount