See how different Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and other tech CEOs looked when they first started their companies

Elon Musk today runs several more companies than he did in 1999, when the photo on the left was taken.AP / Richard Bord/WireImage via Getty Images

• Some of Silicon Valley’s biggest names are in their tech bro era.
• It wasn’t always like this — many Big Tech CEOs have shed more nerdy personas from their startup days.
• Here’s a look at tech’s most influential executives then and now.

Other Big Tech leaders have significantly changed up their looks since starting their companies; some are nearly unrecognizable (remember the Jeff-Bezos-is-jacked memes?)

Here’s a look at the style transformations of some of tech’s biggest names:

Jeff BezosBezos founded Amazon from his garage in Bellevue, Washington, in 1994. He attributes his new look partly to working out with a celebrity personal trainer and changing his diet.

Mark ZuckerbergMeta CEO Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook from his dorm room at Harvard in 2004.Gone are the days of the Zuck who famously wore the same thing every day to save brainpower for more important decisions. Instead, Zuck can now be seen sporting graphic tees and chain necklaces.Part of Zuckerberg’s physical transformation also stems from hobbies like Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA fighting.

Michael DellDell is another member of the college dropouts-turned-tech founders club.

Larry Page and Sergey BrinLarry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in 1998.

Elon Musk

Bill GatesGates and the late Paul Allen cofounded Microsoft from a garage in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1975.

Jack DorseyTwitter was founded in 2006. Cofounder Dorsey has been seen with a full beard pretty regularly since departing as CEO and focusing his efforts more on cryptocurrency at Block, formerly Square.

Richard BransonRichard Branson started the Virgin brand in 1970 with a mail order record business.At 73 years old today, Branson’s day-to-day life still features plenty of exercise, from tennis and cycling to kite-surfing.

Jack MaAlibaba Group founder Jack Ma disappeared from public view in 2020 after criticizing China’s financial regulation system. He resurfaced in Thailand in 2022 and has been teaching as a visiting professor at the University of Tokyo.

Anne WojcickiAnne Wojcicki founded genetic testing company 23andMe in 2006.

Whitney Wolfe HerdWhitney Wolfe Herd founded Bumble in 2014 and stepped down as CEO last year.

Evan SpiegelEvan Spiegel co-founded Snap, which owns services like Snapchat, in 2011.

Reed HastingsReed Hastings and Marc Randolph cofounded Netflix in 1997 as a DVD-by-mail service provider before it would become the streaming giant it is today. Hastings gave up the CEO title in January 2023, though he still serves as board chairman.

Sam AltmanAltman is best known as the CEO of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, but his first startup was Loopt, a mobile service that allowed for real-time location sharing with friends.The picture at left shows him in those days, circa 2006. In 2008, he was sporting two polo shirts with a double-popped collar on stage at Apple’s WWDC conference. 15 years later, however, he’s worn a tuxedo to the White House while continuing to keep it casual during interviews with more casual looks too.

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