Mark Zuckerberg’s Meteoric Rise: Surpassing Jeff Bezos on World’s Richest List and Closing in on Elon Musk

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, has recently overtaken Jeff Bezos to become the world’s second-richest person. As of Thursday, Zuckerberg’s net worth reached a staggering $206.2 billion, narrowly surpassing Bezos, whose fortune stands at $205.1 billion. The Facebook co-founder now trails only Elon Musk, who leads the global rankings with a fortune about $50 billion higher than Zuckerberg’s.

Zuckerberg’s ascent is largely tied to his 13% stake in Meta, which has seen his wealth grow by $78 billion since the start of 2024. On Thursday, Meta’s stock hit an all-time high of $582.77, a dramatic 68% rise from its January value of $346.29.

His climb to the number two spot highlights how closely his personal fortune has mirrored the enthusiasm of investors over Meta’s remarkable profit surge this year. Throughout 2024, Wall Street has been notably optimistic about Meta, as the company’s earnings reports have consistently exceeded analysts’ expectations. In July, Meta reported a 22% rise in second-quarter sales, reaching $39.07 billion—marking its fourth consecutive quarter with revenue growth exceeding 20%.

Meta attributes much of this success to significant investments in artificial intelligence, which have helped boost the performance of its online advertising platform. This comes after a major hit to the platform in 2021, when an iOS privacy update by Apple undermined Meta’s ability to track users online, costing the company $10 billion in lost revenue.

To counteract these challenges, Zuckerberg initiated a major cost-cutting strategy in late 2022, which continued into the following year and resulted in the layoff of 21,000 employees, roughly a quarter of Meta’s workforce. Despite the job cuts, investors responded positively, particularly as the company’s ad business began to recover, driven by significant spending from retailers like Temu and Shein.

Though Meta has continued pouring billions into virtual and augmented reality technologies—key to its vision of the metaverse—investors seem more accepting of these expenditures, so long as the company’s core advertising business remains robust.

Last week, Meta made waves by unveiling its Orion AR glasses, a prototype that has received favorable reviews from those who have had the opportunity to test the cutting-edge technology.

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