Athira Sethu
Kochi, 4 October 2024
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, has just become the world’s second richest person by overtaking Jeff Bezos for the first time. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as of 2024, Zuckerberg’s wealth touches $206.2 billion while Bezos stands at $205.1 billion.
Interestingly, the wealth of Zuckerberg is higher than the total amount of GDP of Kuwait, which stands at $160.4 billion. However, he remains $50 billion behind Elon Musk, the head of Tesla, who is presently the world’s richest man.
Bloomberg Billionaires Index tracks the wealth of the wealthiest people every day by updating the numbers once the New York stock market closes. In 2024, the increase in Zuckerberg’s net worth was $78 billion- the biggest increase for the 500 richest people in the world. He has a 13% stake in Meta, which he founded in Menlo Park, California.
Meta is investing greatly in data centres and advanced computing to become a leader in the domain of artificial intelligence. The company is also working on other new projects like the Orion augmented reality glasses, which were launched last month.
Meta’s stocks have a good run this year with nearly a 70% increase since the beginning of the year. This has significantly supplemented Zuckerberg’s increase in net wealth, especially owing to the positive investor sentiments toward the prospects of the company. According to the firm, its sales growth is attributed to investments in AI technology.
Despite the huge investments in virtual and augmented reality, Meta’s cash flow position remains buoyant. The core business of advertising continues to generate huge revenues for Zuckerberg who has moved four places up the wealth index this year.
