For years, Mark Zuckerberg had been best-known for his grey t-shirts that he wore almost as a uniform, but he seems to have expanded his wardrobe — and the results look quite interesting.
Mark Zuckerberg took the stage at Meta’s event wearing an oversized black shirt. But the shirt had some faint oversized lettering as well, that was visible if one paid attention. The shirt said “Aut Zuck Aut Nihil”, which in Latin means “Either Zuck or nothing”.
Now it’s not common for CEOs to wear shirts that carry their own names at tech events, but Zuckerberg’s shirt seemed to convey a deeper message. Zuckerberg’s shirt seemed to be a play on the phrase “Aut Caesar Aut Nihil”, which means “either Caesar (emperor) or nothing”. Aut Caesar Aut Nihil is used to convey an all-or-nothing attitude — it says that one either wishes to become an emperor, or nothing at all. it conveys a sense of going all-in into an endeavour, and going for bust to be successful.
It was perhaps an appropriate message for Mark Zuckerberg to convey at the event. Zuckerberg launched Meta’s new Quest 3S headset, and Orion, which Meta is billing as its “first true augmented reality glasses”. These glasses can work like regular glasses, but also allow users to immerse themselves into virtual worlds. Apple had launched its own Vision Pro earlier as its big VR play, but interest in that product has fizzled out after some initial buzz. Meta, though, seems to be taking a different approach to AR and VR, focusing more on the wearability and form factor of the glasses, and is looking to make a big dent in the space.
And Meta is all-in on the AR/VR pivot. A few years ago, Zuckerberg had officially changed the name of the company to Meta to reinforce its commitment to AR. In a Meta event where the biggest announcements were around its AR and wearables initiative, a T shirt that said “all or nothing” seemed appropriate.
And the choice of Latin seems to be a nod to Zuckerberg’s own personal interests. Zuck is reportedly a fan of the Roman Empire, and has even named his daughters in accordance — his first daughter is named Maxima, which means ‘greatest’ in Latin; his second is named August, which appears to be a play on Augustus, which was a title given to Roman Emperors, while this third is named Aurelia, which seems to be named after Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Until a few years ago, Zuckerberg used to make sure his clothes were functional to the point that he wore the same outfit for years; he now is wearing clothes with messages emblazoned across them to broadcast them to the world.