Mark Zuckerberg has overtaken Jeff Bezos to become the world’s second-richest individual, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. As of Thursday, Zuckerberg’s net worth reached $206.2 billion, surpassing Bezos’ $205.1 billion. He now trails Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, by about $50 billion.
Zuckerberg’s wealth has seen an extraordinary increase in 2024, driven by the 13% stake he holds in Meta. Since the start of the year, his net worth has soared by $78 billion, making him the biggest gainer among the 500 richest individuals tracked by the Bloomberg Index. Meta’s stock price closed at a record high of $582.77 on Thursday, marking a significant jump from $346.29 in early January—a remarkable 68% rise.
The surge in Zuckerberg’s wealth is tied to Meta’s strong financial performance in 2024, which has been well-received by investors. The company’s quarterly earnings have consistently exceeded analysts’ expectations. In July, Meta reported a 22% year-over-year increase in second-quarter revenue, bringing in $39.07 billion. This marked the fourth consecutive quarter where revenue growth surpassed 20%.
Meta attributes its strong sales growth in part to its substantial investments in artificial intelligence, which have improved the performance of its online advertising platform. The company’s ad business had been hit hard in 2021 following Apple’s iOS privacy updates, which limited its ability to track users across websites. In 2022, Meta projected that these privacy changes would result in a $10 billion revenue loss.
Toward the end of 2022, Zuckerberg implemented a significant cost-cutting initiative that continued into 2023, leading to the layoff of 21,000 employees, about 25% of Meta’s workforce. Investors responded positively to these cost-saving measures, as the company’s online advertising business began to recover. This recovery was further supported by large ad campaigns from Chinese-linked retailers like Temu and Shein.
Despite ongoing investments in virtual and augmented reality technologies to support the vision of the metaverse, investors appear more accepting of these expenditures as long as Meta’s core advertising business remains strong.
