Mark Zuckerberg and Greg Hayes are prominent American business leaders, but there is no verified public evidence of a direct business partnership, shared board role, investment relationship, or personal connection between them. Zuckerberg remains the founder, chairman, and CEO of Meta Platforms, while Gregory J. Hayes is the former CEO and executive chairman of RTX and, as of 2026, serves as lead independent director of Phillips 66.
The pairing can look plausible because both men have spent years at the top of major U.S. corporations. Their careers, however, developed in very different industries. Zuckerberg built his influence through social media, digital advertising, artificial intelligence, and consumer technology. Hayes spent decades in industrial manufacturing, aerospace, defense, and corporate restructuring.
A review of current corporate records, SEC filings, historical company announcements, and relevant government records does not establish a meaningful direct relationship between the two.
Who Are Mark Zuckerberg and Greg Hayes?
Mark Zuckerberg and Greg Hayes represent two very different types of corporate leadership.
| Detail | Mark Zuckerberg | Greg Hayes |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mark Elliot Zuckerberg | Gregory J. Hayes |
| Best known for | Founder of Facebook, now Meta | Former CEO and executive chairman of RTX |
| Main industry | Technology, social media, AI | Aerospace, defense, industrials |
| Current major role | Founder, chairman and CEO of Meta | Lead independent director of Phillips 66 |
| Major former role | Facebook/Meta CEO since 2004 | CEO of United Technologies and later RTX |
| Public-company focus | Meta Platforms | RTX, formerly United Technologies; Phillips 66 board |
The important point is that their professional histories do not show the normal markers of a direct corporate relationship, such as common employment, a joint venture, overlapping board membership, or a jointly announced investment.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Role at Meta
Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004 while studying computer science at Harvard University. The company later became Meta Platforms as it expanded beyond the original Facebook social network into Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, virtual and augmented reality, wearable devices, and artificial intelligence.
Meta’s current leadership information identifies Zuckerberg as its founder, chairman, and chief executive officer. He has been CEO since 2004 and chairman since 2012.
His position is unusual even among major technology founders because he also maintains substantial voting control over Meta. The company’s 2026 proxy statement reported that Zuckerberg controlled about 60.8% of Meta’s total voting power as of April 1, 2026, primarily through Class B shares carrying ten votes per share.
That means Zuckerberg is not simply a hired chief executive. He remains central to both Meta’s strategic direction and its corporate governance.
Zuckerberg’s Current Business Priorities
By 2026, Meta’s strategy had become heavily centered on artificial intelligence alongside its established social-media and advertising businesses.
In its July 2026 second-quarter results, Meta reported quarterly revenue of approximately $60.8 billion, up 28% from the same period in 2025. Zuckerberg said AI was already affecting Meta’s core business while also supporting new products and enterprise opportunities.
Meta’s 2026 proxy materials similarly describe company work involving AI infrastructure, the Family of Apps, Reality Labs, and what Meta calls its effort to develop personal superintelligence.
None of Meta’s current leadership disclosures identifies Greg Hayes as a director, executive, adviser, or other senior participant in the company.
Who Is Greg Hayes?
Greg Hayes, formally Gregory J. Hayes, is best known for leading United Technologies Corporation and the company created from the combination of United Technologies’ aerospace businesses with Raytheon Company.
Hayes spent decades at United Technologies, holding positions in finance, strategy, business development, and senior management. He became UTC’s chief executive in 2014 and chairman in 2016.
His career became particularly significant because he oversaw a major restructuring of United Technologies.
The company sold Sikorsky Aircraft in 2015, acquired Rockwell Collins in 2018, and later separated Carrier and Otis into independent companies. UTC’s remaining aerospace operations then combined with Raytheon Company in April 2020, creating Raytheon Technologies, subsequently renamed RTX. Hayes became CEO of the combined company.
RTX operates through major aerospace and defense businesses including Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, and Raytheon.
Hayes’ Departure From RTX Leadership
Hayes stepped down as RTX CEO on May 2, 2024, when Christopher T. Calio succeeded him. Hayes remained with the company as executive chairman during the leadership transition.
RTX announced in February 2025 that Hayes would leave the board and executive chairman position effective April 30, 2025. He then served as a special adviser to the CEO through January 2, 2026.
This means descriptions identifying Greg Hayes as the current RTX CEO are outdated.
What Is Greg Hayes Doing in 2026?
Hayes continues to hold significant corporate governance roles.
Phillips 66 appointed him lead independent director on May 13, 2026. The company said he had already served on its board for approximately four years and highlighted his corporate leadership experience.
Phillips 66’s 2026 proxy materials identify Hayes as a former RTX executive chairman and show that he had served as a Phillips 66 director since 2022.
He is also chairman of the board of NAF, an education-focused nonprofit organization, which currently identifies him as the former executive chairman of RTX.
What Is the Mark Zuckerberg and Greg Hayes Connection?
There is no confirmed direct Mark Zuckerberg and Greg Hayes connection in the major corporate and public records reviewed. No reliable evidence establishes that they have run a company together, sat on the same corporate board, made a joint investment, launched a public initiative together, or maintained a publicly documented personal relationship.
Their names can nevertheless appear relevant to one another because both have belonged to the broader universe of influential American corporate executives.
Zuckerberg’s leadership is concentrated in digital technology. Hayes’ career is rooted in aerospace, defense, manufacturing, energy governance, and industrial corporate strategy.
That creates broad thematic overlap in areas such as technology investment, regulation, national economic policy, corporate governance, and workforce development. The overlap is contextual rather than evidence of a direct partnership.
Did Zuckerberg and Hayes Serve on the Same Government Business Council?
This is one area where online information can become confusing.
Archived White House records show that Greg Hayes, then CEO of United Technologies, was included in President Donald Trump’s Manufacturing Jobs Initiative announced in January 2017. The official roster also included executives from companies such as Dow, Dell, Ford, Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, Intel, Boeing, Tesla, and General Electric.
Mark Zuckerberg does not appear on that official White House roster.
Zuckerberg was also not a member of the separate Trump administration Strategic and Policy Forum according to contemporary published membership lists. That forum included executives and business leaders such as Stephen Schwarzman, Jamie Dimon, Mary Barra, Ginni Rometty, Doug McMillon, Indra Nooyi, and others.
Some non-government pages from that period circulated broader lists containing Zuckerberg alongside members of presidential business councils. The official White House Manufacturing Jobs Initiative announcement does not support the claim that Zuckerberg and Hayes served together on that panel.
Greg Hayes later announced that he would leave the manufacturing council in August 2017 as controversy grew following the violence in Charlottesville. The administration subsequently ended both the Manufacturing Council and the Strategic and Policy Forum.
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Were Zuckerberg and Hayes Ever Colleagues?
No verified record indicates that they were colleagues.
Zuckerberg’s professional career has been overwhelmingly tied to Facebook and Meta. Meta’s 2026 proxy lists his professional experience as Meta founder and CEO from 2004 to the present and chairman from 2012 onward. It also lists no other current public-company directorships for him.
Hayes, by contrast, built his career inside United Technologies and later RTX before moving into post-RTX board and advisory work.
Their major corporate histories therefore developed separately.
Is There a Meta and RTX Connection Through Them?
There is no disclosed Zuckerberg-Hayes relationship that links Meta and RTX.
The companies themselves occupy very different primary markets. Meta’s businesses revolve around digital platforms, advertising, AI, communications services, virtual and augmented reality, and consumer devices.
RTX operates in commercial aviation and defense through businesses including Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, and Raytheon. RTX reported more than $80 billion in 2024 sales when announcing Hayes’ planned departure from its board.
Both corporations invest heavily in advanced technology, but technological similarity at that broad level should not be interpreted as evidence that Zuckerberg and Hayes are personally or commercially connected.
How Their Leadership Careers Differ
Zuckerberg is a founder-led technology executive. He created the company he still controls and remains closely involved in product strategy, technology development, and long-term investment decisions.
Hayes followed a more traditional corporate-management path. He rose through an established industrial conglomerate, spent years in senior finance and management positions, became CEO, oversaw major acquisitions and divestitures, and eventually led one of the largest restructurings in the aerospace industry.
Their approaches also reflect the industries in which they operated.
Meta can build and distribute software products to billions of users through digital infrastructure. Aerospace and defense companies such as RTX operate with long manufacturing cycles, extensive supply chains, certification requirements, government customers, physical factories, and highly regulated engineering programs.
The two executives are therefore better understood as examples of different forms of large-company leadership rather than as business partners.
Why Are People Searching for Mark Zuckerberg and Greg Hayes Together?
There is no single confirmed event that clearly explains every search for the two names.
Pair-name searches often emerge because search engines encounter pages, databases, executive lists, conference records, company filings, political-business coverage, or automatically generated content where two prominent executives are mentioned in a broader context.
There is also considerable ambiguity around the name Greg Hayes because several people with that name work in business and technology. In this context, the most prominent corporate executive is Gregory J. Hayes, the former United Technologies and RTX chief.
Readers should therefore be cautious about pages that imply a relationship simply because two names appear together. A genuine corporate connection should normally be supported by company filings, official announcements, board records, transaction documents, or reliable reporting.
What Can Be Verified as of 2026?
The reliable record supports a straightforward interpretation.
Mark Zuckerberg continues to lead Meta as founder, chairman, and CEO. Meta remains heavily focused on AI, its social platforms, infrastructure, and next-generation computing.
Greg Hayes is no longer running RTX. His executive-chairman tenure ended in April 2025, followed by a temporary advisory role, and Phillips 66 appointed him lead independent director in May 2026.
What the public record does not establish is a substantive personal or professional relationship between Zuckerberg and Hayes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Mark Zuckerberg and Greg Hayes business partners?
No verified evidence shows that Mark Zuckerberg and Gregory J. Hayes are business partners. Their careers have primarily involved different companies and industries, with Zuckerberg leading Meta and Hayes previously leading United Technologies and RTX.
Did Greg Hayes work for Meta or Facebook?
There is no reliable corporate record showing that Gregory J. Hayes worked for Meta or Facebook. His career was primarily associated with United Technologies and RTX, followed by board and advisory positions including his current role at Phillips 66.
Is Greg Hayes still CEO of RTX?
No. Hayes stepped down as RTX CEO on May 2, 2024. Christopher T. Calio succeeded him, while Hayes became executive chairman before leaving that position and the RTX board on April 30, 2025.
What does Greg Hayes do now?
As of September 2026, one of Hayes’ most prominent positions is lead independent director of Phillips 66. The company appointed him to that role on May 13, 2026.
Does Mark Zuckerberg still control Meta?
Zuckerberg remains Meta’s founder, chairman, and CEO. Meta’s 2026 proxy statement reported that he controlled approximately 60.8% of the company’s total voting power as of April 1, 2026 through its dual-class share structure.
Did Zuckerberg and Hayes serve together on a Trump business council?
Official archived White House records list Greg Hayes as a member of the 2017 Manufacturing Jobs Initiative but do not list Mark Zuckerberg. Available official and contemporary membership records therefore do not support the claim that the two served together on that council.
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