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You know what’s really cool? A male CEO setting a good example by taking a proper paternity leave.

Mark Zuckerberg, the cofounder and CEO of Facebook, revealed Friday that he will step aside from his day-to-day executive responsibilities at the $300 billion company to take two months of paternity leave for the birth of his first child.

“This is a very personal decision, and I’ve decided to take 2 months of paternity leave when our daughter arrives,” Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post. “Studies show that when working parents take time to be with their newborns, outcomes are better for the children and families.”

Zuckerberg, 31, announced in July that he and his wife Priscilla Chan were pregnant with a girl after trying for years.

“We’ve been trying to have a child for a couple of years and have had three miscarriages along the way,” Zuckerberg wrote at the time.


The Facebook CEO’s decision to take a lengthy paternity leave comes at a time when improving parental leave has become a focus of Silicon Valley and Washington D.C.

Technology giants like Netflix, Microsoft, Apple, Spotify and Facebook have boosted paternity and maternity leave policies in recent months, in part to attract talent and in part to appear at the vanguard of that growing national conversation. Facebook offers its employees in the United States paid leave of up to four months when a child is born.

For all of those perks, some have noted there can be a gap between benefits available and benefits employees actually feel comfortable taking in a workhorse culture.

Zuckerberg’s decision to take ample time off, rather than working throughout, may just show other technology executives and employees it’s okay to do the same.