Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth soared by more than $28 million after CEO Mehta profited from his company’s record stock price rise.
As of Monday, Zuckerberg is reportedly the fourth richest person in the world with a net worth of $170 billion. Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Zuckerberg’s wealth is fueled by Meta’s stock price, which has soared to an all-time high of $474.99 per share, up 20% as of Friday’s close.
The gain increased Facebook’s parent company’s market capitalization by $197 billion. bloomberg This is reported to be the largest increase in market value in a single session ever, surpassing the $190 billion that Apple and Amazon earned in a single day in 2022.
Mr. Zuckerberg reportedly receives only a $1 salary from Meta, but the 39-year-old’s post as the company’s largest shareholder has benefited most from the rise in stock price following Meta’s impressive quarterly earnings report.
The company’s fourth-quarter profit came in at $5.33 per share, beating expectations.
Revenue for the first quarter of 2024 was expected to be up to $37 billion, also exceeding analysts’ expectations. Zuckerberg continues his so-called “Year of Efficiency” efforts to cut costs and increase profits by billions of dollars, even though it reportedly hurt morale. For the social media giant.
Zuckerberg’s recent $28.1 billion windfall means his wealth has increased by a total of $42.4 billion so far this year. That’s more than any other billionaire, putting him ahead of Microsoft founder Bill Gates and the tech giant’s former CEO Steve Ballmer, now in his fifth generation. They are each the sixth richest people in the world, according to Bloomberg calculations.
Elon Musk remains the world’s richest person, but the gap between the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, who is currently in second place, has narrowed since the beginning of this year.
Musk boasts a $205 billion fortune, but has lost $24.4 billion so far this year, according to Bloomberg. His wealth has taken a hit as Tesla stock has fallen nearly 26% since the beginning of the year.
If things continue as they are, Mr. Musk, 52, will lose the top spot to Mr. Bezos, who is worth $197 billion, but in particular, a judge ruled that Mr. Musk’s $56 billion in compensation at Tesla was unfair to shareholders. Especially after the court ruled that it was.
Musk’s compensation remains in limbo as his lawyers can appeal the Delaware Supreme Court’s decision.
Zuckerberg will also receive an astronomical $700 million in annual dividends, thanks to Meta’s new quarterly cash dividend of 50 cents per common share starting in March, disclosed in its latest financial report. Even after receiving it, there is a possibility that it will continue to climb the billionaire rankings.
Zuckerberg owns about 13% of Meta, or about 350 million shares, and will receive $175 million each fiscal quarter, according to Bloomberg data.
As Mr. Zuckerberg’s wealth soared, the highly paid executive was questioned in a Senate hearing about Mr. Mehta’s child protection practices.
After testifying last year that his company spent $5 billion on security measures, Zuckerberg offered a surprising apology to parents of online child sexual abuse victims during a recent appearance on Capitol Hill. New Mexico criticized it as “too little, too late.” Attorney General Raul Torres, whose office charged Mr. Meta with exposing children to adult sexual content and being a child predator.
