Published on 22/09/2024
Mark Zuckerberg, Co-founder and CEO of Meta, has seen his net worth soar by $70.3 billion this year reaching an impressive $198 billion.
This surge places him third on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, surpassing LVMH’s Bernard Arnault ($183 billion) and Oracle’s Larry Ellison ($179 billion)
Huang led Zuckerberg in year-to-date wealth gain at the start of this week. But earlier this month the Nvidia cofounder and CEO took a roughly $11 billion hit on that front over three trading days because of a sharp decline in the chipmaker’s stock.
However, Huang’s fortune has grown by $59.4 billion to $103 billion this year, with Nvidia stock up 144% since the start of January. That means Zuckerberg and Huang are jointly almost $130 billion better off this year.
Meta is a social-media powerhouse that owns Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Threads. With Zuckerberg at the helm, it has made huge bets on virtual reality, the metaverse, and artificial intelligence in recent years.
The pricey forays initially spooked investors, fueling a 75%-plus decline in Meta stock between September 2021 and November 2022.
But the wider AI boom — and signs that Meta is reining in its spending — have reignited interest in the company as a leader in next-generation technology, communication, and entertainment.
Meta shares have soared more than fivefold from their 2022 low to trade at record highs above $500, valuing the company at $1.4 trillion.
The blistering comeback has more than quintupled the value of Zuckerberg’s roughly 13% stake in Meta, boosting his personal fortune from under $35 billion in November 2022 to $198 billion.
Now that Huang’s luck has turned, Zuckerberg can claim the title of the biggest wealth gainer this year — and could be on track to become the world’s richest person.
