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Facebook stock drop: Zuckerberg no longer in world's richest 40

So far this month, Facebook's stock has fallen some 7 percent. The biggest loser is, of course, Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The damage has cost the 28-year-old his spot on the Bloomberg Billionaire's Index of the 40 richest people in the world.

This drop won't affect Zuckerberg's day-to-day living. In fact, he just refinanced the mortgage on his $6 million home in Palo Alto, Calif., with a 30-year adjustable-rate loan starting at 1.05 percent.

The rates available to individuals with a high net worth (Zuckerberg may have lost some value, but he's … Read more

Microsoft hires former Clinton adviser Penn as corporate VP

Microsoft has hired a new vice president with strong ties to Washington and public relations.

Mark Penn will join the company as corporate vice president for strategic and special projects. Leading a small team focused on "key consumer initiatives," Penn will report directly to CEO Steve Ballmer.

Microsoft will rely on its new hire's experience in "strategic development, branding, and positioning" to come up with "breakthrough" ideas designed to meet consumers' changing needs, the company said today.

Dubbed "one of the best-known political and campaign strategists in Washington" according to The … Read more

Steve Jobs admired Zuckerberg too much to compete with him

Remember when Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs said he admired Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg? That's apparently what Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson before he died. Well, it turns out Jobs' statements of respect for Zuckerberg weren't just mere rhetoric.

Jobs' appreciation for Zuckerberg was echoed once again today by Isaacson. He was speaking with Washington Post Company Chairman and CEO Donald Graham, who also happens to be a Facebook board member. Business Insider has the quotes:

"Jobs meant an enormous amount to the education of Mark," Graham told Isaacson. "Mark will talk … Read more

Zynga CEO: Mobile is disruptive, but it's the future

SAN FRANCISCO -- Mobile is disruptive, but the most obvious disruptions can be the best opportunities -- at least for online social gaming, according to Zynga founder and CEO Mark Pincus.

During the morning keynote fireside chat at MobileBeat 2012 on Tuesday, Pincus explained his vision of the future of mobile games to GamesBeat lead writer Dean Takahashi.

Essentially, Pincus argued that the industry needs to be more interconnected and there need to be more open channels so that many more games can be discovered -- not just the ones that for whatever reason can get into the Top 10. … Read more

Zynga's quest for 'player liquidity'

Mark Pincus has spent nearly a decade gambling on social networking. His bets have clearly paid off. With Zynga, which he founded in 2007, Pincus rode Facebook's social network to bring social gaming to the masses. Zynga's first game was, appropriately, Texas hold 'em poker. The company went public in December 2011, making Pincus a billionaire. Prior to Zynga, Pincus co-founded tribe.net, a "friend" network that faded unevenly into history as Facebook began its rise to social-network dominance.

He was also an investor in Friendster, an early social network focused on dating, and along with … Read more

Mark Cuban dumps his Facebook stock

The Dallas Mavericks' losses this year weren't the only ones that upset Internet mogul Mark Cuban.

The sports franchise and billionaire entrepreneur owner told CNBC that he sold all 150,000 shares of Facebook stock he owned after suffering through the stock's weak initial showing.

"I already sold it, I took my hit, my thesis was wrong. I thought we would get a quick bounce just about the excitement about the stock. I was wrong, and when you are wrong you don't wait, you just get out. So I took a beating and left," he … Read more

Mark Cuban leads funding of video startup Switchcam

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban is leading a round of seed funding in a new video startup called Switchcam that has technology that can be used to stitch together different videos of the same event so viewers can switch camera angles as they wish.

Other investors in the $1.2 million round, raised via AngelList, include Dave McClure's 500 Startups, Turner Media Camp, Vikas Gupta, Niket Desai, Reed Morse, David Beyer and Jeffrey Schox, Switchcam announced today.

Switchcam CEO Brett Welch told CNET that he got the idea while using his phone to take video of live music concerts. Unlike … Read more

Steve Jobs movie starring Ashton Kutcher begins filming

The curtain has risen and the shooting has begun on the Hollywood biopic "jOBS" starring Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs.

Kutcher arrived on set today at Jobs' childhood home, according to Pacific Coast News. He donned a trimmed beard and shaggy hair -- looking actually not too different than when he's not playing Jobs.

The movie will focus on the earlier years of Jobs' life, from 1971 to 2000, producer Mark Hulme said in April. And rather than being about to Walter Isaacson's best-selling biography "Steve Jobs," the movie is supposedly based on widely … Read more

Man attempts eye-busting 250 Netflix movies in one month

Comedian Mark Malkoff must have buns of steel and eyes as tough as diamonds. He set himself to the challenge of watching 250 streaming Netflix movies in a single month, all to see how much value he could squeeze out of the $7.99 service.

In the first week of the challenge, Malkoff made it through 60 films with a total viewing time of 95.55 hours. Those cinematic masterpieces ranged from "Hoosiers" to "The Big Lebowski" to "The Dark Crystal."

To spice things up a bit, Malkoff recruited actor Jason London from "Dazed and Confused" to come to his house and provide live commentary while Malkoff watched that movie.… Read more