Facebook Comes to Newark -- Part One

By now, Mark Zuckerberg's $100 million pledge of Facebook stock to Newark, New Jersey's school system has reached all corners of the world. We didn't even need a Facebook announcement to find out; instead, the mainstream media did all the work to publicize the gesture.

Let's look at a few issues and coincidences in this story:

1. Zuckerberg has no known connection to Newark. Why would he commit such a vast sum to a city to which he has no organic relationship? It's not even known if he has ever visited the financially broke city, 25% of whose real estate is tax-exempt. The story currently being peddled is that Newark mayor Cory Booker and Zuckerberg met this July. Booker supposedly swayed the Facebook emperor with tales of desperation and reform. Thus, in less than 90 days, Zuckerberg was willing to publicly commit up to $100 million to the schools in Booker's city.

2. The movie The Social Network is scheduled for an October 1st domestic release. Advance reviews range from positive to rave. Lots of Oscar talk will quickly emerge around the movie. One reviewer (Todd McCarthy, whom I respect) suggested the movie had overtones of Citizen Kane. Oy, vey. The bad news for Zuckerberg is that the movie portrays him as an asshole and possibly a white-collar thief. Audiences around the world will learn what an unpleasant young man Mr. Zuckerberg is. It's conceivable that the movie-going universe is larger than Facebook's current subscriber list.

3. Facebook delayed its long-rumored IPO this year. One wonders if the movie might have had an impact on that decision.

4. Forbes recently added Zuckerberg to its list of insanely wealthy luminaries. It just won't do, in a land where perception matters so much more than fact, that Zuckerberg will have reached the heights of prosperity in dramatically, cinematically graphic, unpleasant ways. How many parents would want him marrying their daughter? Hmmm...time for a social face lift.

5. However tarnished Zuckerberg's motives regarding the $100 million wager on Newark's schools, they're practically simon pure compared to the other players in this story. They include, so far, Oprah Winfrey, Arne Duncan, Barack Obama, Chris Christie, Cory Booker, and Michelle Rhee. For the moment, we'll exclude this group's principal enablers: NBC and The New York Times.

To be continued....