- Mark Zuckerberg used a booster seat during testimony to Congress.
- The 5-foot-7 Facebook CEO's stature was boosted by the 4-inch black cushion.
- Sources have suggested it was for comfort rather than optics, but the effects of looking taller in an intimidating situation are obvious.
- Other figures giving testimony have used cushions — but Zuckerberg's is on a different level.
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Mark Zuckerberg gave his grueling, 5-hour testimony to Congress from a 4-inch booster seat
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is 5-foot-7. With the help of a thick, black, padded cushion he seemed much more imposing.
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Mark Zuckerberg faced the most intense scrutiny of his life on Tuesday in a five-hour grilling session from US senators
Imagine, for instance, if Zuckerberg had looked several inches shorter in photographs like this:
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Former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, by contrast, went through a lengthy hearing with no extra padding.
Jerome Powell, Yellen's successor, also got through his confirmation hearing without support.
For contrast, in a 2010 hearing on the airline industry, former United and Continental Airlines CEOs Glenn Tilton and Jeffery Smisek were pictured organising their cushions for a hearing. The Getty Images caption notes that they requested them specially.
However, even their boosters were significantly smaller than Zuckerberg's.
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