Zuckerberg’s $71 bn Wealth Decline Dropped Him 14 Spots in List of World’s Richest

It seems like Mark Zuckerberg’s pivot into the metaverse has cost him dearly in the real world. Zuckerberg’s $71 billion wealth decline dropped him 14 spots in the list of the world’s richest. The fortune of the chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc. has dropped to half so far this year. At $55.9 billion, his net worth ranks 20th among global billionaires, his lowest spot since 2014.

Zuckerberg’s $71 bn Wealth Decline Dropped Him 14 Spots in List of World’s Richest

It was less than two years ago when Zuckerberg, 38, was worth $106 billion and among an elite group of global billionaires. His wealth swelled to a peak of $142 billion in September 2021, when the company’s shares reached as high as $382. During the same month, Zuckerberg introduced Meta and changed the company’s name from Facebook Inc.

In February 2022, the company revealed no growth in monthly Facebook users, triggering a historic collapse in its stock price. Not only this but Zuckerberg’s fortune declined by $31 billion, among the biggest one-day declines in wealth ever.

According to Laura Martin, senior internet analyst at Needham & Co., the stock is also being dragged down by the company’s investments in the metaverse. Zuckerberg has also expected the project will lose “significant” amounts of money in the next three to five years.

Almost all of Zuckerberg’s wealth is tied up in Meta stock. He holds more than 350 million shares, according to the company’s latest proxy statement.

The Menlo Park, California-based company is faring worse in 2022 than most of its FAANG peers. It’s down about 57% this year, far more than the declines of 14% for Apple Inc., 26% for Amazon.com Inc. and 29% for Google parent Alphabet Inc. Meta is even narrowing the gap in 2022 losses with Netflix Inc., which is down about 60%.

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