Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta Platforms Inc., has become the second-richest person on the planet for the first time. This happened on Thursday when Meta’s stock price went up, pushing his total wealth to $206.2 billion.
This amount edges out Amazon’s Jeff Bezos by $1.1 billion, though he’s still about $50 billion behind Elon Musk, who leads with Tesla Inc.
Zuckerberg’s wealth has increased because of his focus on the metaverse, which, after not doing so well at first, has now started to show success.
This strategy, along with Meta’s recent strong sales performance and its ventures into AI technology, has led to a 23% rise in Meta’s stock price. The shares hit an all-time high, closing at $582.77.
Meta is investing a lot in data centers and technology for AI, aiming to be a top player in this field. They’ve also launched new products like the Orion augmented reality glasses.
Zuckerberg, who owns 13% of Meta, has seen his fortune increase by $78 billion this year alone, which is more than anyone else on Bloomberg’s list of the world’s 500 richest people.
Zuckerberg, who is 40 years old, has moved up four places on the list of the world’s wealthiest individuals this year.
