Image by Getty Images

Mark Zuckerberg may have not worn a suit to meet with investors in New York, but at least he ditched his hoodie for his own wedding.

In a move that was a surprise even to the wedding guests, the Facebook founder and CEO married his longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan on Saturday in the backyard of their Palo Alto, California home. Just a day after the much-hyped Facebook IPO, the couple invited fewer than 100 friends and family for what was ostensibly a party for Chan, 27, who had graduated from medical school at the University of California at San Francisco on May 14 (which was coincidentally Zuckerberg’s 28th birthday). But in a bait-and- switch move, the couple announced that the party was actually a wedding only after the guests had arrived.

Although none of the guests are talking to the media, some details did leak out about the bride’s dress and the low-key meal that was served. There’s been no word at all on who presided at the ceremony, or whether there was a chuppah involved.

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)

Commentators are noting how smart Zuckerberg was to pull off a stunt like this in order to prevent advance publicity. They are also wondering whether there was a prenuptial agreement involved. “Reps for Zuckerberg didn’t respond to requests for comment, but anyone worth $19 billion who gets married in a community property state would be an idiot not to have a prenup. Zuckerberg, love him or hate him, is no idiot,” The Reliable Source wrote in the Washington Post.

Zuckerberg and Chan, having met as undergraduates at Harvard, have been dating for nine years. Chan is planning to go into pediatrics, and she reportedly inspired her now-husband to promote organ donation on Facebook.

So if this wedding was such a secret, how did we all find out about it? Naturally, it was because Zuckerberg changed his relationship status to “married to Priscilla Chan” on his Facebook page. The post garnered hundreds of thousands of “likes” in mere minutes. As of Monday morning, it has 1,064,181 “likes” and 743 comments, including many “Mazel tov”s.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount