Photo: PMO's Facebook page

Japanese advertising giant Dentsu (TYO:4324) announced (pdf) with Facebook today that their one year partnership, which saw Dentsu act as the social network’s official ad sales and marketing representative in Japan, is to be extended.

Facebook’s current monthly active user count in Japan is about 10 million, but is growing at a rate that must surely strike fear into domestic rival Mixi, whose growth has plateaued of late.

Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg was in Tokyo yesterday too (I’m not sure to what extent, if at all, the events are related). And while his trip to China didn’t prove to be particularly interesting [1], his stop in Japan appears to have been a little more productive. In addition to this news from Dentsu which coincides with Zuckerberg’s visit, Softbank’s Masayoshi Son also just happened to create a Facebook account yesterday.

And as you can see in the picture above, Zuckerberg also took time to visit the Japanese Prime Minister [2], with the official Facebook page of PM’s Office proudly displayed behind them. He also made a stop at last night’s Mobile Hack Tokyo event, and gave a short speech (mostly just pleasantries) which you can check out below.

Facebook’s growth in Japan has been interesting to watch. From my own point of view, perhaps a far more telling metric than monthly active users or page views is that the word Facebook is creeping into the conversations of regular people that I know here. It’s not just geeks and early adopters anymore. And while Facebook didn’t always look like a sure thing in Japan, it’s certainly winning over Japanese friends at a pretty solid pace right now.

THIS is big tech news, somehow....

Mark Zuckerberg, I’m sure you’re aware, has been spotted in China. Whenever this happens — and it has happened before — it sparks a flurry of news reports and speculation. I’m not going to link to any specific piece because I’m not trying to call anyone out in particular, but you can easily find dozens of stories on Mr. Zuckerberg’s current trip with Google and ten seconds if you haven’t seen the coverage already. This is where tech news meets celebrity gossip and I’m going to be honest: I hate it.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Zuckerberg is an important guy in tech, and his traveling to China could be an important story. Last time he came, it really was; he met with reps from several major Chinese internet companies and seemed to be feeling things out for a potential Facebook launch here. This trip, though, the closest he’s come to doing any Facebook business (as far as we know) is buying a smart cover for his iPad at the Shanghai Apple Store. Riveting.

So why are we — the collective tech media that covers Asia — covering it? Why are we posting these stalkerish photos of the man and his girlfriend walking around Shanghai and Beijing? I understand how appealing “Facebook might launch in China” is as a story, but is there any evidence that Zuckerberg’s trip has anything to do with that? Any at all? His presence alone isn’t evidence of anything, as much as we might want it to be. And maybe I’m missing something, but the most compelling evidence I’ve seen so far that he might be doing business in China is one photo in which he appears to not be with his girlfriend. Not exactly a smoking gun.

If there’s evidence that Zuckerberg is working on some Facebook business in China, the tech media should certainly cover it. That would be big news. But it hasn’t happened yet. And although I’m no Facebook or Zuckerberg fan, it makes me feel weird when some of my favorite tech news sources are suddenly full of paparazzi photos of a man who, by all appearances, seems to be trying to enjoy a vacation.

So Mark Zuckerberg is in China. If there are signs he’s trying to figure out a way to launch Facebook here, I want to know about it. But I’m not sure I need — or even want — to know where and when he bought an iPad cover. Maybe I’m off base here, but that doesn’t seem like news to me.

A Business Insider report cites “a source at a fund that buys stock from former Facebook employees” who was approached directly about helping to put together a stake big enough “to matter” and “a second source tells us there is a rumor going around the social network that Citibank is at this very moment trying to acquire as much as $1.2 billion worth of Facebook stock on behalf of two sovereign wealth funds – China’s and another from the Middle East.”

$1.2 billion isn’t going to be nearly enough of a stake to matter at a company whose value is pegged around $100 billion, but the news has caused some concern, given that the social network is a full of millions of people’s personal data and China is known for its sometimes draconian internet censorship policies, not to mention its alleged hacking practices — something Google, Facebook’s chief rival, knows more than a little about. Business Insider plays down the potential problems, saying:

For another, China would be buying non-voting stock and would have no say in Facebok’s operations. And finally, it’s not like shareholders in Facebook have some special privilege that allows them to see what users are doing or saying.

Importantly, sovereign wealth funds are pretty distinct from their governments.

But not everyone agrees. Over at Forbes, Gordon Chang — who is somewhat notorious for gloom-and-doom predictions when it comes to China — says that China’s sovereign wealth fund “is no more independent of the Communist Party than the Beijing municipal government.” According to Chang, Chinese leaders want a stake in Facebook because they “want to control social media” and “dominate the conversation about China.”

Although the “independence” of anything state-controlled in China is highly questionable, Chang doesn’t really have an answer for how China could control social media with a billion-dollar stake in Facebook, which would likely pan out to be about 1% of the company. If this is a power-grab, it is an incredibly ham-fisted one, and if it’s a soft-power initiative I fear it may be even more misguided than China’s plans to make Xinhua, its state-controlled wire service, a respected worldwide news brand.

Still, the attempted buy is interesting, especially in light of persistent rumors that Mark Zuckerberg is dedicated to bringing the social network to China. A significant state investment in the company might help get Facebook unblocked — many have argued the block on Western social sites exist as much for reasons of protectionism as censorship — and give Zuckerberg a foot in the door.

In any event, China watchers have likely already learned to treat Facebook/China rumors with some caution until they’re confirmed fact (remember back in the spring when everyone was so sure Facebook was signing a deal with Baidu?), and this is coming from two anonymous sources before the purchase even has happened. It’s probably not time to abandon Facebook for fears of Chinese data pirates yet (though it might be time to abandon Facebook for other reasons).

“Our company mission is really clear, which is we want to connect the whole world,” said Sandberg. “And it’s impossible to think about connecting the whole world right now without also connecting China.”

It was also revealed that Mark Zuckerberg has planned to visit China again this year. The agenda and dates were unconfirmed.

In Zuckerberg’s trip to China last year, companies which he visited include Sina, Alibaba and Baidu. It was also rumored that Facebook and Baidu have something ongoing that could possibly bring the social network to China.

Update: Sohu.com reported that an agreement between Facebook and China was signed

Most of you would have heard the rumors that Facebook might be coming to China. Marbridge Consulting reported that Baidu and Facebook are rumored to have  joined forces to bring the social network to China.

It was also rumored that Facebook China will not be functioned under Facebook.com. Facebook.cn, a Facebook owned domain could be used instead.

Take all this information with a grain of salt as no source could verify that the rumor was accurate. We tried but failed too.  ”There’s nothing to say: mere rumor. We won’t comment on rumor,” Kaiser Kuo, Baidu Spokesperson told us in an email.

Still (assuming all these speculations are true) it somehow made me wonder if Facebook can succeed in China. Turned out, my analysis tends to favor for a Facebook win. The social network might have enough muscles to succeed in China one day, and here’s why:

1. Due diligence paid: It’s a known fact that Facebook has always wanted to enter China. However, Mark Zuckerberg understands that China is probably one of the greatest barriers toward Facebook’s march to connect the world. He was, indeed, very patient with his approach. Facebook has studied China for quite some time. Mark Zuckerberg has even poured in time to study the Chinese language and culture. He even took time off to visit China last year. Note that all the above are probably just a small part of Zuckerberg’s effort to understand China. I’m sure he would have done much more than these before bringing Facebook to China.

2. First step right, Facebook.cn works better: Facebook.com is banned in China simply because there is a clash of philosophy between the two. In my opinion, it is a clever move to enter China through Facebook.cn. The China domain will follow Chinese’s law religiously (and probably unconditionally) while Facebook.com remains status quo. Facebook.com will continue to celebrate freedom of speech. Who knows, 5 or 10 years down the road, when China starts to embrace democracy, both sites could merge which immediately connects China with the world.

3. Chinese love Mark Zuckerberg: When Mark Zuckerberg visited China last December, we saw a spike in the number of Facebook users in China. With all factors constant, the only reason that could trigger the growth was Mark Zuckerberg’s presence in China. “I think more of us signed up for Facebook because of Mark Zuckerberg’s visit in China. His presence has somehow promoted Facebook in our country,” Aileen Meng, a professional working in the Internet industry in Beijing China told us in our previous article.

Not an easy task

However, we shouldn’t discount the fact that there are strong competitors in China. With 160 million users, Renren is a competitor that Facebook should be caution of. Without compelling reasons most users wouldn’t jump ship to Facebook. The network of friends built on Renren ties users down to the Facebook clone. Even for Chinese students abroad, Facebook is merely used to help them connect with the locals. Renren, is undoubtedly still the first choice online social network.

That’s a major problem. As most Chinese use Facebook as a medium to connect with the world, putting Facebook.cn as a separate entity from Facebook.com would simply kill off the reason for Chinese to join Facebook. However, that’s only on theory. I believe the Chinese would still sign up for Facebook.cn to quench their curiosity. After all, Mark Zuckerberg‘s creation is somewhat influential, at least within the Chinese tech community. If you haven’t already known, it is also good to note that Renren has planned for a $500 million IPO in U.S. If succeeded, the IPO will give Renren more funds for growth.

Conclusion

With Renren dominating, it will be a tough battle for Facebook to be the market leader in China. But does Facebook has much choice? Probably not. The thing is, Facebook has to enter China quickly before it is too late. The bigger Renren grows, the harder it is for Facebook to establish presence in China. Facebook understands that it has to move swiftly before Renren becomes the de facto social network in the country. Joining up with Baidu (assuming this is true) seems like a good choice for Facebook. Nothing beats a local tech giant to help you scale your product. Let us know what you think.

The story traced back from the scandal that happened about a month ago: Over 100 employees were suspected of abetting fraud (now fired) which forced David Wei and Elvis Lee (the then CEO and COO, respectively) to resign.

Back then, I was a little surprised when I first received the news from Alibaba. But as I digested the information, it made me admire Alibaba’s transparency with the media. Forbes’s detailed story about the company also increased my admiration for Ma and Alibaba.

Ma’s vision of creating a company that thrives on integrity is admirable. He said that China has a major trust issue in this world. In actual fact, yes… Something that is “made in China” is assumed to be made cheaply and of poor quality. China is the world’s factory but her reputation has to improve for continual success. It’s a painful fact for the Chinese but it’s an issue that should be admitted and tackled.

Ma said that China needs a company that the world can believe in, one that values people over profits. As far as I can see, the Alibaba Group is built towards that vision. As a brand with multiple online marketplaces and products, trust is the driving factor that keeps customers coming back. Besides that, his strong belief in “product first, money later” has also made Alibaba Group a great success story.

Back in 1999, Ma told early investors that revenue wasn’t his focus; building the product and building the user base were priorities. What he said surprised Joe Tsai, who was Ma’s right hand man and employee number 19.

“Early on I didn’t quite understand Jack’s thinking,” Tsai told Forbes, “I said to Jack, ‘People say that our website is nothing but a bulletin-board service.’”

“He (Ma) was single-mindedly focused on building the core foundation of the market, which was a lot of listings, a lot of sellers and in the end a lot of buyers.”

Unfortunately with insufficient funds in 2002, Ma finally submitted to pressure from venture capitalists. A total of $25 million was raised to monetize the site. Despite growing Alibaba to a profitable business today, Ma still feels that Alibaba could have grown even bigger if the site remained free-of-charge for merchandisers. “To me, it’s a big pity,” said Ma.

With sufficient cash in the bank, Taobao, a B2C online marketplace would focus on product. Taobao was created in 2003 to challenge eBay’s EachNet. The two have similar service for merchandisers, except Taobao offers merchandisers free-of-charge listing. The strategy works and Taobao led the market with over 90 percent market share with 110 million unique visitors per month. EachNet only has 6.1 million.

‘Product first, money later’: It is the same strategy for other Alibaba Group’s products: (1) Alipay, a third party online payment platform with 550 million users and an average of $370 million of transaction per day and (2) Alibaba Cloud Computing, a subsidiary that provides cloud computing services.

I think Ma and team are very well on their way to be the world’s most trusted company from China. Hopefully, Ma’s work can inspire other Chinese companies to follow Alibaba’s approach. One day, hopefully soon, ‘Made in China’ will be something that consumers can have faith in.

Connect on Facebook:

Anti, whose legal name is Zhao Jing said that Facebook sent him an email explaining that it is against its policy to use a fictitious name.

Anti argues that his professional identity as Michael Anti has been established for more than a decade, with published articles and essays. Anti, a former journalist who has won fellowships at both Cambridge University and Harvard University, said he set up his Facebook account in 2007.

By locking him out of his account, Facebook has cut him off from a network of more than 1,000 academic and professional contacts who know him as Anti, he told AP.

“I’m really, really angry. I can’t function using my Chinese name. Today, I found out that Zuckerberg’s dog has a Facebook account. My journalistic work and academic work is more real than a dog,” he said.

There is strong reason why Zhao Jing prefers to be known as Anti. He explained that there is a long tradition in China for writers and journalists to take pen names, partly as protection from retaliation from the Chinese authorities. He further explained that Facebook’s requirement to use real names could potentially put Chinese citizens in danger.

There aren’t many users in China, though: Only about 650,000 users in China currently. The number of users in China dropped after a strong growth was experienced a month ago. Let us know your thoughts.

The chart below captured my attention immediately: 79 percent of Facebook users in China are males. That is of course, a highly imbalanced male-female ratio, especially when we learned that women rule social media.

Why the imbalanced gender ratio? It is probably triggered by Mark Zuckerberg’s visit to China last year. His presence somehow made Facebook better known among Chinese males. A Chinese friend of mine previously shared with me that Mark Zuckerberg is pretty well known in the Chinese Internet community. His visit to China last year was widely publicized in tech blogs and Chinese social networks where readers are usually males. I mean… a successful entrepreneur like Zuckerberg will influence other like-minded entrepreneurs. In the entrepreneurial community, most are males as well, which explains the imbalance gender ratio.

China’s ban on Facebook didn’t stop users from using the service. AnchorFree, a Mountain View, California-based startup, said it saw 1.5 million people using its free VPN service in China during January, a 25 percent increase from the previous month, the Businessweek reported.

With more Chinese Internet users logging on to Facebook through VPNs, we can expect the number of Facebook users in China to continue growing. Meanwhile, I wonder what it takes to trigger Chinese females to join the service. Any thoughts?

Looking through the timeline (below), I can’t help but feel inspired, again. It also refreshed my memory on a book, titled The Facebook Effect, which I read 6 months ago, and also a movie on Mark Zuckerberg I watched 3 months ago.

If you haven’t already known, he is also the TIME 2010 person of the year and the youngest billionaire in the world. I even wrote a piece telling the world that Mark Zuckerberg is a role model for our generation.

Do I feel inspired? Yes. But while I feel 100 percent inspired by this young billionaire, it’s important to do a reality check. The truth is, not everyone can be like him. His story is one in a billion. It takes more than a genius to achieve Facebook’s success. Zuckerberg is that genius but he has received a lot of help (and luck) along the way.

I hear people saying that they want to create the next Facebook or Google after catching ‘The Social Network‘. While most are joking, some are dead serious. It’s good to start motivated but starting a business is extreme tough job. The journey is far more painful (and dark sometimes) than what were depicted in the movie.   Most importantly, don’t start one because you want to be a “Mark Zuckerberg“. Instead, be original and find the right reason that will last you throughout your journey as an entrepreneur. Start by doing a reality check. How capable are you?

Kudos to TechCrunch for compiling all the investment data into a pretty graphic.

Also Catch: Why do I want to be an Entrepreneur?

He is a partner at Founder Institute (Singapore) and a director at Battle Ventures. His specialties include early stage technologies on consumer web and mobile technologies and distressed investments in South East Asia.

We managed to grab hold of him to discuss and learn about his opinions on Singapore’s entrepreneurial scene and talent pool. Our focus: Can we produce our very own Mark Zuckerberg?

The Facebook chief has attracted much limelight last year. His Facebook Empire has racked more than 500 million users worldwide and is poised to be anything on the web. On top of that, a movie and several books, which chronicle his Facebook founding journey, have also made him one of the most admirable entrepreneurs in our generation. Will Singapore be able to produce a talent like Zuckerberg?

1. Thanks for your time, Jeffrey. Here’s for a start. What attributes are needed to be a good entrepreneur?

Well, based on my experience this person needs to have these basic attributes:

• Skills (e.g. Engineering degree etc)
• Experience (e.g. 3 yrs in a technology company doing technical sales etc)
• Openness (ability to be open to new ideas and be able to rationally process these ideas, come to a conclusion and not be narrow minded and closed up)
• Fluid intelligence (ability to handle many different kinds of data sets and quickly process them and make decision based on the processed data)

The first 3 can be taught but the fourth is heredity.

My personal attributes:

• A resourceful leader with a big vision
• Somewhat crazy, anti-establishment type, always challenging the status quo
• Able to listen and be able to change direction when the market or customers are telling you something is not right
• A genuine nice, honest and sincere person (‘no asshole rule’ applies)
• Never say die/give up attitude

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2. In your opinion, what are the greatest obstacles faced by entrepreneurs in Singapore?

Here’s my list of obstacles:

• Limited technical talent pool
• Local and regional markets are small and hard to scale evenly
• Start-up ecosystem is pretty new, there are limited amount of experienced mentors and financiers
• Singapore entrepreneurs do not see and meet enough start-ups (the best) and people from Silicon Valley
• There is a small population of Singapore entrepreneurs who think too highly of themselves. But the actual fact is that they have not done anything at all. These are the obstinate people who do not listen well. It’s good to be determined but you need to have a balance.
• Too small a vision
• Most of them do not share their ideas and learn from others’ perspectives. They like to keep it all to themselves.

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3. Okay, we really need to be humble. Can Singapore produce her own Mark Zuckerberg?

This is a difficult question to answer. Perhaps Singapore may be able to produce a Zuckerberg once every 7-10 years or maybe even longer but not at Facebook kind of scale. The answer is yes, we can produce someone like him but not so soon, a lot of things still need to be in place for that to happen. For example:

a. Government regulations: The ease of incorporating a company and personal liability laws. This is great in Singapore so far.

b. The way we perceive risk taking: Singapore still doesn’t have a a risk taking culture but it is slowly improving.

c. Start-up ecosystem: Singapore needs to have a healthy start-up ecosystem, powered by lawyers, angels, venture capitalists, schools, public markets and technical talents. We have started to improve but all these elements need about 3 to 5 years to fusion and settle in.

d. Ease of doing business in the region: This isn’t so easy at the moment.

e. Markets are fragmented: This is actually the Achilles’s heel. To be a Facebook you need to dominate a large market first before other countries follow suit (rather than outrightly copying your concept).

f. Education system: I personally think we are okay. The universities are implementing entrepreneurship courses at their pace and are doing it well (if everyone starts companies who is going to work for you?). The only issue we need to watch out for is our students’ myopic nature and arrogance. I suggest throwing them in China or India for a semester to learn about “hunger” and how they compare to the kids there. Book smart does not mean everything in the start-up world. People create companies, companies build products. People relations is the MOST important aspect to having a long lasting endearing company. If no one likes the leaders/founders, you can never recruit, raise money or convince customers, period.

The IDA, Spring, MDA and other government agencies are putting in a lot of effort to change the above. The policies and programs implemented so far have also impressed our Founder Institute mentors from the US. Of course there are kinks to the system but they are iterating too, just like a startup. We should appreciate and support their efforts.

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4. Who are some of the promising entrepreneurs in Singapore to watch?

I personally like:
- Steven Goh of mig33
- Darius and co (they still have 1-2 companies left in them) of tencube

There are a few interesting ones coming up like Manga Castle, and a few from Founder Institute during the last semester.

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5. For those who are eager to start their own business: What are the steps toward building a start-up?

a. Find your reason: Start by questioning why you want to do this? Entrepreneurship is not about making money, you can do that better at a job and reach home by 7. Entrepreneurs are 24/7/365 and most do not make very much money. The reason for starting a business MUST be the right one.

b. Network: Build a trusted circle of good advisers (friends, colleagues etc). They will be helpful along the way.

c. Build ideas: Start a notebook for ideas and treat your ideas as projects.

d. Kill ideas: Then try to kill your ideas as they come along, most ideas suck anyways

e. Think ideas: Take some quiet time alone (e.g. a swim, a jog, a walk, a drive) to think about your ideas, shortlist to 3, the one that you are always leaning towards after a few weeks is likely the one that you are most passionate about

f. Share ideas: Share your top 3 ideas with your trusted network of advisers and gather feedback from people that are different from you. Listen, and listen well.

g. Mentor: Find a mentor who has been there and done that to guide you on how to set up a business and not just build and launch a product

h. Execution: Then do it and make sure you get it done. It is all about execution anyway. In Singapore, finding a co-founder might be beneficial in the long run but it takes a while to find the right one. Start early in your search.

While in Baidu, Zuckerberg met up with Baidu CEO Robin Li. Kaiser Kuo, Baidu’s director of International communications said both Li and Zuckerberg have been friends for a long time and quashed any rumors that were speculated.

In Sina, Zuckerberg met up with CEO Charles Chao for an “information exchange on the Chinese Internet market,” a spokesperson told Bloomberg.

If it means anything, Zuckerberg did not manage to visit Beijing-based Renren, China’s largest social network. The Chinese social network has over 100 million users and is gearing up for IPO in the U.S. Its features and interface are very much similar to Facebook’s.

Zuckerberg’s adventure has continued southward as he visited e-commerce giant, Alibaba and Taobao (also Alibaba’s) in Hangzhou. Shanghai, Taiwan, Shenzhen and Hong Kong could all be part of Zuckerberg’s travel plan. Who knows, Zuckerberg could also visit his Asia offices in Japan, Malaysia and Singapore.

TIME named Mark Zuckerberg as the Person of the Year 2010. The magazine explained, “For connecting more than half a billion people and mapping the social relations among them; for creating a new system of exchanging information; and for changing how we all live our lives, Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is TIME’s 2010 Person of the Year.”

On the other hand, the Financial Times gave the honor to Steve Jobs.

“When Steven Paul Jobs first hit the headlines, he was younger even than Mark Zuckerberg is now. Long before it was cool to be a nerd, his formative role in popularising the personal computer, and Apple’s initial public offering on Wall Street – which came when Mr Jobs was still only 25 – made him the tech industry’s first rock star.”

Let us know your choice:

[Image courtesy of Venturebeat]

This visit again signals Mark Zuckerberg’s intention to establish Facebook in China. The TIME’s 2010 Person of the Year has been studying the Chinese language and its culture.

Back in October, Zuckerberg said in an interview, “How can you connect the whole world if you leave out 1.6 billion people?”

Kaiser Kuo, Baidu‘s director of international communications, told The Associated Press that Zuckerberg had lunch with Baidu CEO Robin Li. He said he didn’t know what they talked about but added that the two had met before. Zuckerberg, who co-founded Facebook, is traveling with his girlfriend, Priscilla Chan, and no apparent entourage.

“Mark has had a long personal interest in China,” Kuo said.

Zuckerberg’s visit has caused an eruption of rumors. Including a joke about Baidu acquiring Facebook. In response, Kuo quashed the speculations through a tweet, stating that Zuckerberg and Li have been friends for a long time.

Facebook is known to execute its plan swiftly to meet changing circumstances. Renren, the largest social network in China, which recently applied for a U.S IPO, might have fueled Facebook to take action. It’s just a deduction, not a fact. Renren currently has over 120 million users, mostly from China and Taiwan. We’ll see how Facebook takes on China’s firewall.

His great work goes beyond just Facebook. Zuckerberg has been generous when it comes to charity work.

He has recently pledge at least half of his wealth to Giving Pledge, a foundation led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett to commit the country’s wealthiest people to step up their charitable donations.

He is a role model for our generation, not because he is TIME’s 2010 Person of the Year but for all the great work and inspiration he has given to the world.

Image courtesy of TIME

Giving Pledge is an effort led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett to commit the country’s wealthiest people to step up their charitable donations. The Pledge has so far signed up 57 contributors, who include New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, CNN founder Ted Turner and film director George Lucas.

Though not a formal contract, those who pledge are committing to give away at least half of their wealth to philanthropic causes either before or after they die.

This isn’t the first time the Facebook head has donated for good cause. Prior to this, Zuckerberg launched the Startup: Education, a $100 million foundation dedicated to improving education in Newark, New Jersey and the rest of the U.S. The ultimate aim of the education foundation is to create a model for rewarding excellence in education on a national level.

The donation was made just before the movie, The Social Network launches. The Social Network chronicles the formative days of Facebook, from its founding in Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard dorm room through its early rise to success. The way Zuckerberg was played in the movie painted a negative image in many people’s mind. At that time, some argued that the education foundation was simply a PR gimmick to provide an “image cushion” for the Facebook CEO.

This time round, there is probably less debate on Zuckerberg’s intention. Giving away at least half of his wealth is a price too heavy to pay for any PR gimmick. (That’s more than $3 billion folks.)

Kudos Zuckberg, you have become the role model for the young generation. At least on your generosity to donate for good causes.

We have embedded a preview below which teases its watchers. It smartly ends off with an interesting question but answer unrevealed.

Stahl asked, “Is the goal for you to conquer the whole internet?”

Mark Zuckerberg answered, ”Think about it like this, if people can use a product of any category, photos, music, TV, anything… either by themselves or with their friends, I think most of the time people would want to do those things with their friends.”

Stahl replied, ”So is the answer yes?”

To know the answer, catch Facebook Founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg tonight (5 December) on 60 Minutes at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

The animation is a collaboration between Bluewater Productions and Hayden 5 Media. The technique used for the animation will be very much like how ‘A Scanner Darkly’ was created, a mixture of real characters and animated surroundings.

“When we found out that Bluewater was releasing this comic, we knew we had to get on board,” says Todd Wiseman, President of Hayden 5 Media. “We saw a great opportunity to re-tell the story of Mark Zuckerberg post Social Network in a brighter, animated form that could be enjoyed and understood by a broader audience.”

“We’re just aware of the profound impact of Facebook, and with over 500 million users, we’re bound to have an audience. One that is more willing to watch a shortened, visually captivating summary of this short epic online, or on their favorite network,” says Milos Silber, Executive Producer at Hayden 5 Media.

The comic will hit the store coming late December. Alternatively, you can also order online here. It is not disclosed when and where the Animation will be screened.

From social games to films, it’s interesting to witness how everything is trying to leverage on Facebook. The attractiveness of Facebook’s 500 million users is akin to China’s huge consumer market. After all, if Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s fourth largest in terms of population. The animation should be well-received if it is aired through a major TV channel. Mark Zuckerberg’s story is after all one in million. It’s always worth re-telling.

Image courtesy of Bluewater Production

Forbes has released its list of 400 American billionaires; and Facebook’s 25-year-old Co Founder and CEO; Mr Mark Zuckerberg came in #158.

His net worth is at $2 Billion dollars, which is twice of Twitter’s valuation a couple of weeks ago.

He is also the youngest among the 400, with probably the most number of friends (300 million if that counts!).

Zuckerberg’s Facebook is currently the third largest site in the world, beating video sharing site, YouTube and Microsoft’s live.com. With its first positive cashflow in the last quarter, Facebook is looking better than ever!

Catch the video below, featuring how top billionaires (Bill?) lost billions due to the financial turmoil.