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Mark Zuckerberg is getting slammed for recommending a book about an inventor who drives his rivals out of business to protect his monopoly

Dave Smith   

Mark Zuckerberg is getting slammed for recommending a book about an inventor who drives his rivals out of business to protect his monopoly
Finance3 min read

mark zuckerberg

AP Photo

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg takes a drink of water as he testifies before a House Energy and Commerce hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 11, 2018, about the use of Facebook data to target American voters in the 2016 election and data privacy.

  • Dylan Byers of NBC News recently asked all of the prominent tech CEOs for book recommendations for the summer.
  • Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg recommended the Graham Moore book "The Last Days Of Night," about the competition between innovators Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, and George Westinghouse.
  • Zuckerberg is being ridiculed online for recommending the book, since it's ultimately about celebrating a man who does everything in his power to maintain his monopoly, namely by driving his main rivals out of business - something Zuckerberg himself has been criticized of doing.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

It's summer, which means it's the perfect time to pick up that book you've always wanted to read.

Dylan Byers from NBC News decided to ask around Silicon Valley for the best book recommendations, getting picks from notable tech CEOs like Tim Cook from Apple, and Evan Spiegel from Snap. 

Among the book recommendations was the Graham Moore book "The Last Days of Night," which was suggested by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Of course, like most things Zuckerberg does, he got some backlash online for his book choice.

Of course, the obvious comparison that people are making here is that Zuckerberg is similarly facing threats to his own empire, in social media. Presidential candidates like Sen. Elizabeth Warren want to see Facebook broken up. Even Chris Hughes, one of Facebook's cofounders, believes Facebook needs to be broken up and that Zuckerberg has too much power in his position.

Facebook has been accused of wielding too much power, and keeping competitors away by either copying their biggest features (like in the case of Snapchat), or acquiring those rival companies entirely. The biggest instance of this is when Facebook purchased Instagram for $1 billion in 2012, but the company has purchased more than 75 different, smaller companies over the last 15 years.

Right now, the Federal Trade Commission is investigating Facebook for potential violations of antitrust law. Facebook had just recently settled with the FTC over a separate matter relating to Facebook's privacy practices, where the social network agreed to pay a record $5 billion fine.

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