Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has overtaken Jeff Bezos to become the world’s second-richest individual, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Zuckerberg’s net worth reached $206.2 billion on Thursday, edging past Bezos, who stands at $205.1 billion. Zuckerberg now trails only Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, who leads the list by roughly $50 billion.
Zuckerberg’s fortune has skyrocketed by $78 billion this year, largely due to his 13% stake in Meta, which has seen a sharp rise in its stock price. Meta shares surged to an all-time high of $582.77, reflecting a 68% increase from early January when the stock was trading at $346.29. The boost in Zuckerberg’s wealth mirrors investor confidence in Meta’s performance, which has consistently exceeded market expectations in 2024.
Wall Street’s enthusiasm for Meta comes as the company has posted four consecutive quarters of revenue growth exceeding 20%. In the second quarter of 2024 alone, Meta reported a 22% rise in sales, reaching $39.07 billion. A major contributor to this surge has been Meta’s investments in artificial intelligence (AI), which have improved the effectiveness of its online advertising platform. This rebound follows the challenges Meta faced after Apple’s 2021 iOS privacy update, which significantly hampered its ad-targeting capabilities.
Image: Google Finance
In response to these challenges, Zuckerberg enacted a large-scale cost-cutting initiative in late 2022, resulting in layoffs of 21,000 employees, about a quarter of Meta’s workforce. Despite the significant cuts, investors reacted positively, especially as the company’s advertising revenues began to recover. Chinese e-commerce platforms Temu and Shein also contributed to Meta’s success by pouring billions into digital ad spending.
While Meta continues to invest heavily in its vision for the metaverse, including the development of virtual and augmented reality (AR) technologies, investors have shown more patience with these ventures, as long as the company’s core advertising business remains robust. Meta’s recent launch of its Orion AR glasses has further strengthened market optimism, receiving favorable feedback from early testers.
Zuckerberg’s ascent underscores how his personal wealth is closely tied to Meta’s resurgence, propelling him past Bezos, the former Amazon CEO, who once held the title of the world’s richest person.
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