TV Takes All

In his first television interview since the Facebook IPO, company founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg sits down with Matt Lauer to talk about the social network’s plans for growth --- and his employees' morale. Zuckerberg also opened up to Lauer about his wedding, his new I-Phone 5 that he got as a freebee, his wardrobe of gray t-shirts, and how much closet space he gets at home. The exclusive interview will air on Thursday, October 4 on “Today” and “Rock Center with Brian Williams.”

Here are excerpts:

MATT LAUER:
Like you, these people have taken a hit. When you walk by and you see faces of employees here, do you feel personally responsible for them? I don't mean as a CEO. I mean, you look at people here and do you feel like, "Hey, it's going to be okay. I'm going to make it better"?

MARK ZUCKERBERG:
Well, I mean, I feel a lot of responsibility in my role. And the thing that we can do is just make sure that we're building the business and building our products to be the best that they can be. And that's what everyone comes to work every day to do. And I think-- you know, people are really excited and optimistic about the things that we're doing.

MATT LAUER:
So when you say "walk around and talk to people," if you're just walking through the campus here, do you think that the employees are comfortable to walk right up to you and say, "Excuse me, M …" I don't know, what do they call you? Mark?

MARK ZUCKERBERG:
Mark, Mark.

MATT LAUER:
Mr. Zuck-- are they comfortable to come up and ask you questions?

MARK ZUCKERBERG:
No one calls me "Mr. Zuckerberg." I mean, it's -- we do a lot to create this open culture.

MATT LAUER:
Last weekend, Apple sold about five million of their new iPhone products. Did you buy one?

MARK ZUCKERBERG:
You know, Tim actually sent one to me. It's a wonderful device.

MATT LAUER:
You got a freebee? You didn't even have to pay anything, huh? So are you now an iPhone 5 user? Is that the phone you've got in your pocket or back on your desk?

MARK ZUCKERBERG:
Well, I think I handed my phone to someone else before this interview. But I mean, I use all of them, right? So I mean, I'm a big--

MATT LAUER:
Are you just not playing favorites here?

MARK ZUCKERBERG:
No, well, I mean, if you think about it, I mean-- iPhone is a great platform. There are more people who use Facebook on Android-- because Android is just-- more people use it, at this point. So it's actually a pretty diverse ecosystem. And we spend our time building for all these different things.

MARK ZUCKERBERG:
But I try to keep everything just simple besides that, all right? So I mean, my life outside of this is extremely simple. I mean, I wear the same thing every day, right? I mean, it's literally, if you could see my closet at …

MATT LAUER:
You have 12 of those t-shirts?

MARK ZUCKERBERG:
… at home – about -- maybe about 20. But literally, it's like my closet is -- and my wife has a bunch of stuff. Although she has her drawer - primarily scrubs for the hospital. And I get one drawer. And my drawer is about 20 of these …

MATT LAUER:
Wait a second, are you telling me …

MARK ZUCKERBERG:
… gray t-shirts.

MATT LAUER:
At home you have one drawer?

MARK ZUCKERBERG:
I have one drawer.

MATT LAUER:
Of a wardrobe closet? That's it?

MARK ZUCKERBERG:
Like men everywhere. Like men everywhere.

MATT LAUER:
So you're just a simple guy in charge of this company that is a behemoth?

MARK ZUCKERBERG:
I mean, that's what my life is about, right? I mean, I just love what we're doing here. I mean, it's my -- it's the company's mission. It's my life's mission. And I'm just super excited about that.