After making a stunning financial recovery, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta Platforms, has eclipsed Jeff Bezos, the creator of Amazon, to become the second-richest person in the world.
Thanks to Meta’s outstanding performance and strong investor trust in the company’s ambitious push into artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR), Zuckerberg’s net worth skyrocketed to $206.2 billion.
Meta’s stock price has increased by 23% after the company released its better-than-expected Q2 earnings, contributing to Zuckerberg’s stunning wealth growth.
The internet giant’s shares recently reached an all-time high of $582.77 as investors supported Zuckerberg’s decision to switch from the metaverse—a risk that at first looked disastrous—to artificial intelligence.
According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, Bezos now has a net worth of $205.1 billion, $1.1 billion less than Zuckerberg thanks to the stock market boom.
After a turbulent few years, Zuckerberg has risen to the second position.
His early, significant investments in the metaverse destroyed more than $100 billion of his net wealth in 2022, raising concerns about Meta’s long-term plan.
But since then, Zuckerberg has masterminded a stunning reversal, reorienting Meta toward advances in artificial intelligence. With the goal of dominating the global AI race, the corporation has been making significant investments in data centers and state-of-the-art technologies.
With about 500 million monthly active users, its flagship AI helper, Meta AI, is predicted to overtake all other AI assistants as the most popular in the world.
Meta’s foray into augmented reality, including the launch of the Orion augmented reality glasses last month, is contributing to the company’s forward momentum.
By these initiatives, Meta is establishing itself much beyond its beginnings as a social media platform, becoming a major player in the metaverse and AI domains.
Zuckerberg’s 13% ownership in Meta, which is worth about 345.5 million shares, is primarily responsible for his $78 billion increase in wealth this year.
Due to his quick rise, he has also surpassed other industry titans in the tech sector, like Larry Ellison of Oracle and Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates of Microsoft.
Although Zuckerberg is happy with his new position, Elon Musk of Tesla is still the richest person in the world, having amassed an incredible $256.2 billion. Musk is now unable to move up to the top slot.
The entry of Zuckerberg into the ultra-exclusive $200 billion club underscores investors’ perceptions of Meta’s comeback.
Just below the Nasdaq 100 average, the company is currently selling at 24 times its anticipated earnings, indicating significant market confidence in its future.
With advancements in AI and AR gaining momentum, it seems likely that Zuckerberg will now want to overtake Musk as the richest person in the world.
