The return of the wife guy: Why loving Priscilla made Mark Zuckerberg cool
JOSH EDELSON/Getty, Tyler Le/BI
- In 2024, Mark Zuckerberg was the ultimate wife guy.
- He doted on his wife, Priscilla Chan, with elaborate gifts like a statue of herself.
- A therapist explained why people become wife guys and how it can benefit one's public image.
2024 was a great year for Mark Zuckerberg — and it came with an image makeover. It's the year he became a "wife guy."
Zuckerberg gifted his wife, Priscilla Chan, a 7-foot statue of herself, a custom-made Porsche minivan, a recording of him singing their anniversary song (with T-Pain himself), and a disco party, just because "Disco queen wanted a party."
Wife guys have been the butts of jokes since 2017 when Instagram user Robbie Tripp went viral for praising his "curvy wife." In their spousal-championing, wife guys like Tripp have drawn praise and skepticism from onlookers.
Not so in 2024.
Zuckerberg's public tributes to his wife earned him some glowing headlines, even from his detractors, with people aspiring to form a similar relationship. Other prominent wife guys (or, in Travis Kelce's case, girlfriend guys) have garnered similar positive press. Jett Puckett, a social media influencer, is now one-half of "TikTok's favorite couple," gushing over his wife in their posts.
Isabelle Morley, a couples therapist, told Business Insider that wife guys are exciting because they represent greater equality in monogamous relationships. As women have become more independent over the past decades, "men are shifting into a role that was traditionally only for women, which is being a supportive partner," she said.
In 2024, we saw a swing toward more traditional relationships and a yearning for big romance — the desire for stronger, unambiguously loving partnerships. A 2024 Tinder report, for example, found that users are looking for more "cherry bombing," consistent gestures of affection. Instead of looking out for red flags, they wanted "white flags" to signal a higher form of love.
It's why Zuckerberg's public adoration of his wife is a boon for his marriage and reputation.
Being a wife guy is a PR power move
Zuckerberg, 40, and Chan, 39, met at Harvard and started dating in 2003 before getting married in 2012. While the couple, who have three children, have been in the public eye for many years, running a philanthropy organization together, the custom statues and cars are a seemingly new element in their relationship.
Morley has had clients who became more vocal wife guys later in their marriages. From her experience, these changes usually boil down to two reasons:
- The marriage is on the brink of divorce, and it's a last-ditch effort to keep it together (and dispel any rumors of a split).
- A husband may have gone to therapy and realized where he might be lacking as a partner. This realization can give them "a new sense of commitment and excitement to be the other person's champion," Morley said.
With public figures, it can also be a professional decision. "We could never weed out if there are ulterior motives for him doing that or if they've agreed that this is something that they want for their public image if they've got a whole PR team," she said.
Zuckerberg has had his share of controversies. Meta has been in hot water for showing political bias to both parties, how it collects user data, and being addictive to children. On a personal level, Zuckerberg's been known for his awkwardness and blunt delivery, particularly in the early years of his Facebook stardom.
His image revamp, complete with a style makeover and a more confident stage presence, helps soften the criticism — as does generously spending part of his $187 billion fortune on his wife.
Striking the right wife guy balance
Wife guys can be polarizing, and how they dote on their wives matters. Some, like I did in a 2017 tweet about Tripp, criticized the applause: was it really that groundbreaking to love an objectively beautiful woman? Tripp's positive attention curdled into backlash, and while his brand still revolves around loving his curvy wife, the reviews remain mixed.
The biggest critique of wife guys is that they're not actually devoted to their relationships. Some may "overcompensate by publicly acting as though there could be no doubts to their loyalty," Morley said, living a life very different from the facade they constructed.
One internet-famous example is Ned Fulmer, one of the four original Try Guys. Fulmer was known for frequently name-dropping Ariel, his wife with whom he seemed to have the ultimate marriage. Then, in 2022, Fulmer was caught cheating on her with a younger coworker, shattering his loving husband image. Another prominent wife guy, Adam Levine, had a similar marital scandal that same year.
Morley said there's no way to tell the authenticity of a wife guy. Some men are truly in awe of their partners, and overdoing it on social media isn't necessarily an indicator of nefariousness. One definite red flag is "stomping all over their wife's space and image and dominating it," where the wife becomes a clear accessory rather than her own person.
Zuckerberg's brand of wife guy has earned him praise. He usually refers to Priscilla by her first name, and their couple selfies break up his other content, like his jiu-jitsu snaps. It's part of his larger public persona pivot, not the feature, making the romance feel more legitimate.
A collective thirst for big romance
In a time of dating app hell, Zuckerberg, who boasts about being with the same woman since college and actively participates in his children's lives, offers an image that some might find more encouraging.
"It's showing that it's OK for men to view having a positive relationship as an accomplishment — it's not just career success," Morley said. Seeing an "alpha" like Zuckerberg gush about his wife shows men that "they're allowed to be in love, to be romantic — that's not 'being soft' or 'being whipped.'"
It also offers a more wholesome alternative to social media and online dating. Professionally, Zuckerberg is overseeing Meta's foray into the dating app world. Personally, he's logging off: staying fit, throwing parties, and listening to what his wife wants in a custom luxury car — the wife he met the old-fashioned way.
It's a vision that strikes the right chord today, Morley said.
"That wives aren't just the support person or best friend character, that they are an equal partner is a really good message for people to be taking."
