Mark Zuckerberg experienced a significant boost in his wealth on Thursday, with gains reportedly up to $9 billion. This comes after Meta’s stock surged by 9% on Wednesday, following a robust second-quarter earnings report, Business Insider reported. Zuckerberg, who has long had a salary of $1 as CEO, holds most of his wealth in stakes in the company and owns over 13% of Meta stock.
The company’s growth in advertising revenue, along with the launch of Meta’s Twitter competitor, Threads, contributed to the Facebook parent company’s success in the second quarter of 2023.
Meta’s revenue increased by 11% to $32 billion in Q2, surpassing Wall Street expectations of $31.12 billion, per Reuters. Ad revenue showed even stronger growth, rising by 12% in the quarter, outpacing Google’s ad revenue growth, which was at 3%. Additionally, the adjusted earnings per share of $2.98 surpassed Wall Street’s target of $2.91, according to data from Refinitiv, per Reuters.
After facing challenges in 2022, Meta has been on the path to recovery, driven by emerging AI technology and the company’s efforts to optimize operations — in what Zuckerberg has dubbed the “year of efficiency” — which included laying off around 21,000 employees since the previous fall.
Zuckerberg’s net worth has more than doubled this year, after his wealth took a hit and plummeted to approximately $35 billion in November from around $125 billion at the beginning of the year, per the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. However, since hitting its lowest point last fall, Zuckerberg’s net worth has rebounded and grown more than threefold to approximately $113 billion as of Friday.
With the gains in Meta stock, Zuckerberg is now the ninth richest person in the world, ahead of Google co-founder Sergey Brin (net worth of $111 billion) and billionaire investor Carlos Slim (net worth of $97.5 billion), per the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
Throughout the year, the 165% surge in Meta stock has added approximately $70 billion to Zuckerberg’s wealth, making it one of the most substantial gains in net worth this year. However, the year-to-date increase still lags behind tech CEO Elon Musk’s $100 billion surge in wealth during the same period.