Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg now world’s third richest man, enters exclusive club with net worth of $200 billion

Meta Platforms co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg has reached a net worth of $200 billion, joining the ranks of the world's richest individuals. According to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index, Zuckerberg now stands alongside Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the only other individuals globally to surpass the $200 billion mark in net worth.

Tesla's Elon Musk retains the top position with a net worth of $265 billion, while Jeff Bezos trails closely behind at $216 billion. According to the Billionaire Index, the majority of Zuckerberg's fortune is derived from a stake of about 13 per cent in Meta, based on a July 2024 filing. Meta, the parent company of social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, generated a revenue of $134.9 billion in 2023 and has about four billion monthly users.

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Zuckerberg’s wealth growth of $71.8 billion in 2024, puts him ahead of other tech moguls such as Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and former Microsoft CEOs Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. The majority of Zuckerberg’s fortune stems from his approximately 13 per cent stake in Meta Platforms, which equates to about 345.5 million shares.

The tech mogul's net worth was fueled by Meta stock's soaring almost 60 per cent since the start of January to unprecedented highs of more than $560 a share. Meta’s valuation partly explains why investors are still buying at record highs. The company trades at about 24 times forward earnings, roughly in line with its 10-year average and a discount to the 26-times ratio for the Nasdaq 100. 

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Meta's AR glasses reveal at Connect event

The Facebook owner kicked off its annual Connect conference at its California headquarters on Wednesday, where it is expected to preview its first augmented-reality glasses and announce updates to its existing virtual-reality and artificial intelligence (AI) products.

According to news agency Reuters, one of those AI updates is an audio upgrade that allows users to select a voice for Meta's ChatGPT-like chatbot, including the ability to make it sound like celebrities such as Judi Dench and John Cena.

Mark Zuckerberg's augmented-reality reveal has been a long time in the making. In 2021, he first piloted the world’s biggest social media company toward building immersive “metaverse” systems, positioning AR technology as a sort of magnum opus.

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