Mark Zuckerberg Surpasses Jeff Bezos to Become World’s Second-Richest Person
Mark Zuckerberg has officially become the world’s second-richest person, surpassing Jeff Bezos, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
As of Thursday, Zuckerberg’s net worth reached $206.2 billion, placing him $1.1 billion ahead of the former Amazon CEO. This milestone follows a surge in Meta Platforms Inc.’s stock, which has been climbing steadily, driven by investor confidence in the company’s AI advancements and a rebound in its advertising business.
Meta shares closed at a record high of $582.77 on Thursday, up 23% since the company reported better-than-expected second-quarter sales. Zuckerberg, who holds a 13% stake in Meta, has seen his wealth grow by $78 billion this year alone—the largest gain among the world’s 500 wealthiest individuals.
Zuckerberg’s rise to the second spot highlights the success of his company’s pivot toward artificial intelligence and large-scale language models that power AI chatbots. Meta’s investments in AI have bolstered its advertising platform, leading to a 22% increase in second-quarter revenue to $39.07 billion. Wall Street has responded favorably to these developments, cheering Meta’s consistent outperformance of analysts’ earnings expectations throughout 2024.
Despite ongoing investments in the metaverse and augmented reality, such as the recent unveiling of the Orion AR glasses, Meta has maintained strong profits, supported by its core ad business. The company’s cost-cutting measures, which included laying off 21,000 employees, have also contributed to improved investor sentiment.
Zuckerberg now trails only Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, who holds the top spot with a net worth nearly $50 billion higher.
