Mark Zuckerberg Charms European Heads of State
Mark Zuckerberg is meeting right now with heads of state from various European nations along with other technology moguls like Google's Eric Schmidt at the G8 meeting in Deauville, France. The agenda will cover various topics surrounding internet and the economy and will presumable focus on the European countries' recent concerns about privacy. According to the report from the White House Press Pool, however, Europe's most powerful leaders seem much more interested in the 27 year-old wunderkind.
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Before the meeting began, White House aides asked if a pair of fax machines - which in a meeting about the future of the Internet and the economy had the quaint feel of museum pieces - could be moved from the backdrop behind POTUS (they would have appeared directly over his head in photographs.) They were put on the floor, out of sight.
As the group entered at 4:40p.m., German Chancellor Angela Merkel could be heard saying, "I saw it and I liked," in an excited voice. She was walking in with Sarkozy and Zuckerberg, dressed in a blue suit and tie.
"Did you see it? Did you like it?" she asked Sarkozy, who appeared to nod.
"And did you see it?" she asked Zuckerberg.
"I didn't like it," he said with a smile, and the others laughed. The topic almost certainly was "The Social Network."
"Well, you don't like this one? Maybe you'll like the next one," Merkel told him.
Levy, Schmidt and Milner were at one end of the oval (between Berlusconi and Kan) and Zuckerberg, Richard and Mikitani were on the other (between Van Rompuy and Cameron.)
POTUS was placed in the middle of the table, again between Sarkozy and Cameron.
Cameron arrived a little after some of the others, and went straight to Zuckerberg, who, he introduced himself to while Zuckerberg was still seated.
Eric Schmidt, a little later, called to Zuckerberg ("Mark, here's the prime minister..."), pointing out Canadian PM Stephen Harper. Zuckerberg got up and walked toward him, shaking his hand.
"We have lost Obama," Sarkozy said, after everyone else was seated and POTUS still no where in sight.
POTUS arrived a few minutes later, nodded to Zuckerberg and Schmidt, then pool escorted form room...
The leaders' behavior would certainly support a theory we recently posited that Facebook is acting like a sovereign nation.
