In a remarkable climb, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has surpassed both Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault to become the second-richest person in the world. According to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, Zuckerberg’s net worth has reached a staggering $206 billion, placing him only behind Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who sits comfortably at the top with a net worth of $256 billion.
Zuckerberg’s wealth has seen an impressive increase of $78.1 billion in 2024 alone, propelling him into the exclusive $200-billion club. This elite group now includes Musk and Bezos, with Bezos trailing slightly behind at $205 billion. Arnault, on the other hand, saw his wealth dip to $193 billion, pushing him out of the club.
The founder of Facebook, established in 2004, owes a significant portion of his wealth to the phenomenal success of Meta Platforms. Meta’s stock has experienced a remarkable surge this year, rising by over 72%, culminating in a record high closing price of $595.94. Meta’s portfolio boasts major social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and the messaging app WhatsApp.
At the Meta Connect 2024 event on September 25, the 40-year-old billionaire announced that Meta AI was on track to become the world’s most widely-used digital assistant. The service has already garnered nearly 500 million active users and is poised for further expansion in larger markets like the European Union.
“I would like people to look back on us and say, ‘Oh, they took a bunch of really big swings. And maybe not everything that they did worked. But a bunch of the stuff that they did really kind of pushed the industry and pushed the world in different directions, and that was cool,” Zuckerberg shared.
The rise in Zuckerberg’s wealth is not an isolated event within the tech industry. Other tech leaders have also witnessed substantial growth in their fortunes this year. Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, has added $63.5 billion to his net worth in 2024. Similarly, Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle, has seen his wealth increase by $55.9 billion. This demonstrates the continued dominance and growth of the tech sector, which continues to produce some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs.
