Mark Zuckerberg's Washington mission: Stay cool in a very hot seat

A year ago, Mark Zuckerberg was preparing to deliver the commencement speech at Harvard University. As well as a personal milestone, it was the kind of carefully choreographed, profoundly upbeat event at which he excels.

This week, Mr. Zuckerberg must deliver an entirely different type of performance. In two days of testimony before Senate and House committees, the sometimes-defiant Facebook Inc. chief executive must prove to skeptical lawmakers that the tech behemoth he created takes privacy issues seriously. It also is a broader test of how effectively he can guide a company facing myriad challenges from regulators and angry consumers around the globe.

The sessions are likely to be among the most contentious congressional grillings of a CEO in a decade.
The hearings “will be very, very long. Some people will spend their time attacking him as viciously as they can,” said Donald Graham, former CEO of Washington Post Co. and a former Facebook director. Still, Mr. Graham said, “Mark will do fine. He is patient