Who are Mark Zuckerberg’s parents, Edward and Karen? The Meta boss’ dentist dad filled the family home with computers and offered his son a McDonald’s franchise, while his mum is a psychiatrist
Edward Zuckerberg reportedly gave all his children a choice: go to university or run a franchise; meanwhile, his mum Karen helped out at the family dental surgery
Edward Zuckerberg and Karen Kempner-Zuckerberg have spoken in the past about how Mark invented a home computer network to help his dad’s dental practice when he was just 11 years old, and the billionaire regularly posts images of himself with his family. He often talks about how he was raised with a strong support system.
They met on a blind date
Per People magazine, Edward and Karen both grew up in New York. They were set up on a blind date through friends. At the time, Edward was studying dentistry at New York University and Karen was studying psychiatry at Brooklyn College. They got married in 1979 and moved to New York’s Dobbs Ferry neighbourhood to start their family. On Instagram, Edward regularly posts snapshots of their life together, often publicly declaring his love for his wife.
Karen helped her husband’s career
In a bio on Doctor-to-Doctor World’s Top 100, Edward spoke about how his wife’s career helped his own. He said that he had many patients who had phobias around having dental work done and it was limiting his treatment. “I was fortunate to have my wife Karen, a psychiatrist, partner with me in my practice in our home, and together we developed techniques for dealing with phobic patients and an environment conducive to caring for them effectively.”