Mark Zuckerberg's net worth jumps $10.2bn as Meta shares surge

The technology billionaire is now the 12th-richest person in the world

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Meta Platforms, lost 57 per cent of his fortune in 2022. AFP

Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth surged by $10.2 billion on Thursday — his third-biggest wealth increase on record — after shares of Facebook’s parent company Meta rose by nearly 14 per cent despite a 24 per cent annual decline in the company's first-quarter profit.

Mr Zuckerberg, founder and chief executive of Meta, now has a personal fortune of $87.3 billion and is the 12th-richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Meta Platforms earned a net profit of $5.7 billion in the quarter ending March 31, a jump of 22.7 per cent compared with the fourth quarter of 2022 and beating analysts' estimates after the company slashed expenses and 11,000 jobs, the California-based company said on Wednesday.

World's top 10 richest people in 2023 — in pictures

At the close of trading on Thursday, Nasdaq-listed Meta Platforms jumped 13.93 per cent on the better-than-expected results to end the day at $238.56 — its highest close in 15 months. The company's stock is up 91.25 per cent year to date.

“We had a good quarter, and our community continues to grow,” Mr Zuckerberg said on Wednesday.

“Our AI work is driving good results across our apps and business.”

The majority of Mr Zuckerberg's wealth is derived from his 12.8 per cent stake in Meta, the world’s biggest social media company.

In 2022, Mr Zuckerberg shed $71 billion — or 57 per cent — from his net worth as the stock market bear run eroded the personal wealth of many of the world’s technology billionaires.

Mr Zuckerberg's wealth rout began in February last year, when he fell out of the list of the world’s top 10 wealthiest people — and the elite $100 billion club — for the first time since 2015, Reuters reported.

At the time, he lost $29 billion of his net worth after Meta’s stock recorded its biggest one-day fall on February 4, when it dropped by 26 per cent and erased more than $200 billion from the company’s market capitalisation.

Mr Zuckerberg’s one-day wealth decline in February last year is among the biggest in history and came after Tesla chief executive and Twitter owner Elon Musk's $35 billion single-day paper loss in November 2020, Reuters reported.

However, Mr Musk holds the world record for the biggest wealth loss in history after shedding $182 billion from his net worth between November 2021 and January 2023, the Guinness World Records said.

Mr Zuckerberg ended 2022 with a net worth of $44 billion and was ranked the world's 25th-wealthiest person, down from a high of number three in 2021.

His other biggest one-day wealth increases are $12.5 billion on February 2, 2023, and $11 billion about a year ago, according to Bloomberg.

Top 10 richest people in the world

1. Bernard Arnault — $208 billion
2. Elon Musk — $162 billion
3. Jeff Bezos — $133 billion
4. Bill Gates — $122 billion
5. Warren Buffett — $115 billion
6. Larry Ellison — $107 billion
7. Steve Ballmer — $106 billion
8. Larry Page — $99.1 billion
9. Sergey Brin — $94.7 billion
10. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers — $94.6 billion

Source: Bloomberg Billionaires Index