New member of $200 billion club: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg becomes 4th richest person in the world

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, has officially reached a new financial milestone, becoming one of the few people in history to amass a net worth exceeding $200 billion. According to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index, Zuckerberg's fortune now stands at $201 billion, making him the fourth-richest person in the world.

Zuckerberg is now positioned just behind Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ($211 billion), LVMH Chairman Bernard Arnault ($207 billion), and Tesla's Elon Musk, who holds the title of the world’s richest person with a staggering $272 billion.

The bulk of Zuckerberg's wealth stems from his 13 per cent stake in Meta, amounting to approximately 345.5 million shares. This year alone, his fortune has grown by an impressive $73.4 billion, driven by a sharp rise in Meta's stock price. Since January 2024, Meta's shares have surged nearly 60 per cent, reaching record highs of over $560 per share.

The rise in Meta’s stock value has been fuelled by strong investor confidence, with the company currently trading at about 24 times its forward earnings. This is slightly below the Nasdaq 100’s average of 26 times, but still signals strong market interest in Meta's future. At the recent Meta Connect 2024 event, Zuckerberg highlighted the company's ambitious plans for artificial intelligence. Meta AI is projected to become one of the most widely used digital assistants, with nearly 500 million monthly active users—despite not having launched in major markets like the European Union yet.

Zuckerberg’s rise to the $200 billion mark puts him among a growing number of tech leaders who have seen their fortunes expand dramatically in 2024. Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, saw his net worth jump by $62.2 billion, while Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison gained $58.6 billion.

Zuckerberg’s financial resurgence is particularly striking given the setbacks he faced in 2022, when his metaverse investments led to a sharp decline in his net worth, erasing over $100 billion. However, Meta's strategic pivot—driven by innovations like its Orion augmented reality glasses—has helped transform the company from a social media platform into a serious contender in the metaverse and AI space.