Right now, you read this (very possibly having arrived via Facebook), Mark Zuckerberg is one of the richest, influential, and world-historically diabolical figures in the history of American commerce. Just nine years ago, he gave a guest lecture at Harvard to a mostly empty room, and today we can watch in disbelief.

Strangely, he seems almost more natural—less stilted, less robotic, less scheming—before billions of dollars and all the coaching and preening a CEO role necessitates. This is like watching pre-fame Drake squabble with his mother about chicken salad. What if he'd remained this slightly less imperial Mark Zuckerberg?

The Harvard Crimson covered Zuck's talk, centered around his already "wildly popular" social network that had yet to break into the American (or global) mainstream. It looks like only about a dozen kids attended. Now, Zuckerberg's mere presence is enough to jam-pack entire convention center auditoriums, drawing aspiring tycoons from around the world. The wardrobe, however, remains the same.