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    Then and now: What tech CEOs and founders looked like when they first launched their companies versus today

    By Sarah Jackson,

    23 days ago

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=028qWI_0u7McCK300

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2r0S0a_0u7McCK300
    Elon Musk today runs several more companies than he did in 1999, when the photo on the left was taken.
    • Some of Silicon Valley's biggest names are in their tech bro era .
    • It wasn't always like this — many Big Tech CEOs have shed more nerdy personas from their startup days.
    • Here's a look at tech's most influential executives then and now.

    Mark Zuckerberg isn't the only tech CEO whose style has noticeably evolved over the years .

    Other Big Tech leaders have significantly changed up their looks since starting their companies; some are nearly unrecognizable ( we're looking at you, Jeff Bezos. )

    Here's a look at the style transformations of some of tech's biggest names:

    Jeff Bezos
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=24fKYl_0u7McCK300
    Amazon has come a long way from just selling books, and its founder, Jeff Bezos, is also very different today.

    Bezos founded Amazon from his garage in Bellevue, Washington, in 1994. He attributes his new look partly to working out with a celebrity personal trainer and changing his diet.

    Mark Zuckerberg
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1K7Sbp_0u7McCK300
    Zuckerberg is currently in the T shirt-and-chain era of his fashion evolution.

    Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook from his dorm room at Harvard in 2004.

    Gone are the days of the Zuck who famously wore the same thing every day to save brainpower for more important decisions. Instead, Zuck can now be seen sporting graphic tees and chain necklaces .

    Part of Zuckerberg's physical transformation also stems from hobbies like Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA fighting.

    Michael Dell
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0kHBvA_0u7McCK300
    Dell founded his company, initially called PC's Limited, in 1984 while still a student at the University of Texas in Austin.

    Dell is another member of the college dropouts-turned-tech founders club.

    Larry Page and Sergey Brin
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0aWJBf_0u7McCK300
    Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in 1998.

    Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in 1998.

    Elon Musk

    The photo at left shows Musk in 1999, around the time the "PayPal mafia" was formed.

    Musk has said he doesn't care for exercise and "almost never" works out, though he's credited fasting and the weight loss drug Wegovy with his appearance today.

    Bill Gates
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1Y6NI6_0u7McCK300
    Fun fact: The photo on the left is actually Gates' mugshot from when he got a speeding ticket without his license in 1977.

    Gates and the late Paul Allen cofounded Microsoft from a garage in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1975.

    Jack Dorsey
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1ZSifj_0u7McCK300
    Dorsey has been sporting a beard in the years since he stepped down as CEO of Twitter in 2021.

    Twitter was founded in 2006. Cofounder Dorsey has been seen with a full beard pretty regularly since departing as CEO and focusing his efforts more on cryptocurrency at Block, formerly Square.

    Richard Branson
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4BzKhW_0u7McCK300
    At left is Richard Branson in 1969, one year before he started the Virgin brand.

    Richard Branson started the Virgin brand in 1970 with a mail order record business.

    At 73 years old today, Branson's day-to-day life still features plenty of exercise, from tennis and cycling to kite-surfing.

    Jack Ma
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3JZf3z_0u7McCK300
    New photos of Ma are scarce as he's been out of the limelight in recent years.

    Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma disappeared from public view in 2020 after criticizing China's financial regulation system. He resurfaced in Thailand in 2022 and has been teaching as a visiting professor at the University of Tokyo .

    Anne Wojcicki
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4WzT0P_0u7McCK300
    Anne Wojcicki is the CEO of DNA testing company 23andMe and the younger sister of former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki.

    Anne Wojcicki founded genetic testing company 23andMe in 2006.

    Whitney Wolfe Herd
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1Oyoy2_0u7McCK300
    Whitney Wolfe Herd became the world's youngest self-made female billionaire after taking Bumble public.

    Whitney Wolfe Herd founded Bumble in 2014 and stepped down as CEO last year.

    Evan Spiegel
    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1x4KUq_0u7McCK300
    Snap CEO Evan Spiegel was the world's youngest billionaire in the year 2015, when he was 25 years old.

    Evan Spiegel co-founded Snap, which owns services like Snapchat, in 2011.

    Read the original article on Business Insider
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