While most of the venture capitalists I knew tended to judge their startups by the very lowest of ethical bars, I assumed this investor was relieved that Zuckerberg’s childhood hero was not someone more problematic. (Not Stalin, not Hitler, not Mussolini? Phew! Let’s proceed with Series A!) Zuckerberg had underscored this imperial crush in a 2018 profile in the New Yorker after encountering the historical emperor while “studying good and bad and complex figures” from back when he attended Phillips Exeter Academy in high school. That would definitely apply to Augustus, who rose to power in Rome
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