Mark Zuckerberg surfs in bald eagle costume for viral Fourth of July stunt: ‘Sam Altman would never'

San Francisco Chronicle​

2 days ago

Mark Zuckerberg may be a billionaire tech mogul, but his Fourth of July antics prove he's still just a kid at heart.
The CEO of Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, spent the holiday in a full-body inflatable bald eagle costume and shared a now-viral video of himself wakesurfing in the getup with his millions of followers over the weekend.
The clip, posted to Instagram and Facebook on Friday, July 4, opens with Zuckerberg sitting down on a moving boat, holding an American flag and nodding his head, not yet covered by the costume.
'Is this the stupidest thing we've done so far?' an off-camera voice asks, before Zuckerberg hops onto the board fully suited up in his patriotic outfit.
The video then cuts to him surfing, with his arms outstretched to show off the red, white and blue fringed wings of his costume as the song 'America, F— Yeah,' from the 2004 comedy 'Team America: World Police,' plays.
His video has received 961,000 likes since it was posted, and has garnered a number of impressed comments from Zuckerberg's followers.
'Didn't think he'd be able to one-up last year's post but he did,' wrote content creator Kagan Dunlap, referencing Zuckerberg's similar Independence Day stunt from last year, during which he surfed in a suit and bowtie while holding a beer in one hand and an American flag in the other. That comment also received a like from Zuckerberg, along with more than 6,500 others.
While Zuckerberg didn't tag the location of his post, many fans speculate the clip was filmed in Lake Tahoe, where Zuckerberg is building a seven-building compound.
On Saturday, July 5, the Facebook founder shared another holiday-themed video, this time accompanied by his friends as they pretend to be Marvel's Avengers.
The clip was recorded backwards to make it appear as though each individual is jumping out of the water, and is set to audio from the superhero film series in which Chris Evans, who plays Captain America, delivers the iconic line: 'Avengers, assemble.'
Zuckerberg wore a long sleeve shirt that resembled Captain America's suit, while one friend was dressed as Uncle Sam and another wore the same bald eagle costume from his previous post.
Zuckerberg has developed a reputation for his elaborate stunts over the years, though many have been romantic gestures for his wife, Priscilla Chan. In February, he borrowed singer Benson Boone's skintight Grammy jumpsuit to serenade Chan on her birthday, and in 2024 he went viral for commissioning a seven-foot-tall teal blue sculpture in her likeness.