Mark Zuckerberg tops Bezos as world’s second richest man

The Meta CEO leapfrogged Amazon founder Jeff Bezos by $1 billion to take the quantity two spot on Thursday with a web price of $206 billion, in accordance with the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He’s now behind solely Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who boasts a web price of $256 billion.

Zuckerberg’s wealth is generally tied up in his 13% stake of Meta, and it has jumped by about $78 billion this 12 months alone due to inventory positive factors. That’s greater than anyone else on the billionaire’s record, together with Jensen Huang, the CEO of crimson scorching chipmaker Nvidia.

Meta shares skyrocketed this 12 months, closing at a report excessive of $582.77 on Thursday. And the inventory was buying and selling even greater at $590 on Friday, up practically 70% 12 months so far.

In February, Meta’s inventory surged after it introduced its first quarterly dividend and a $50 billion inventory buyback that happy buyers. Since then, Meta’s inventory has benefitted from better-than-expected gross sales within the second quarter and the corporate’s push into AI. 

After pouring billions into Zuckerberg’s metaverse imaginative and prescient, the corporate’s Actuality Labs division misplaced much less cash than anticipated within the second quarter. The division has additionally been requested to rein in its spending by 20%, a lot of which is able to reportedly happen this 12 months. These cuts, plus a shocking increase from the corporate’s announcement of soon-to-come augmented actuality glasses, dubbed Orion, which incorporate the corporate’s AI, have pushed the corporate’s replenish even additional as buyers applaud its innovation.

The inventory has additionally seen a lift from Zuckerberg’s push for effectivity and flattening the corporate’s company construction over the previous few years. 

Whereas the hole between Musk and Zuckerberg appears huge, tech fortunes can fluctuate wildly, and it’s not unimaginable that the 2 might commerce locations sooner or later. As just lately as June, Musk’s web price was decrease than Zuckerberg’s. The Tesla CEO has for years been shuffling out and in of the highest spot, competing with billionaire friends Bezos and LVMH’s Bernard Arnault. 

Tesla’s inventory has rebounded from its tumult earlier this 12 months, pushing up Musk’s wealth, a lot of which is tied up in his stake within the firm. Tesla shares at the moment are about two instances greater than the 52-week low they hit in April. Musk’s wealth was additionally boosted when Tesla shareholders accredited the restoration of a $45 billion pay package deal for the CEO in June. 

Whereas Musk and Zuckerberg compete on the record of the richest folks, their battle has additionally damaged into the general public sphere as of late. Final 12 months, Musk challenged the blended martial arts aficionado Zuckerberg to a cage battle by way of a submit on X. Zuckerberg accepted and was eager on establishing the occasion earlier than Musk bailed.

“If Elon ever will get critical about an actual date and official occasion, he is aware of the right way to attain me,” he wrote in a submit on his X look alike web site, Threads.