Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook and one of the world’s richest people, recently achieved a greater wealth milestone according to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index. After the social media giant’s stock surged 14% on Thursday after reporting better-than-expected first-quarter revenue of $28.6 billion, Zuckerberg’s wealth jumped by an incredible $10 billion to exceed $87 billion. This now positions him at the twelfth spot among the world’s wealthiest individuals, leapfrogging Asia’s top billionaire Mukesh Ambani, who sits with a net worth of $82.5 billion.
An interesting insight into Zuckerberg’s lifestyle despite this extensive wealth is his fondness for Italian sports cars and Hawaiian real estate. Aside from those, he appears to lead a relatively down-to-earth life.
The company behind most of Zuckerberg’s wealth is the tech giant Meta. As of 2021, its stock jumped 14% on Thursday after the company reported revenues of $28.6 billion in the first quarter of 2023 beating Wall Street expectations. Despite its success, the company had to resort to layoffs to achieve its goals. On the first nine months of 2022, the company was forced to let go of around 11,000 jobs and trim its open roles by 5,000 for 2021. Zuckerberg mentioned the release of their Metaverse venture as the reason behind their cutbacks.
The Metaverse venture was a costly endeavor. In the first quarter earnings call, Reality Labs, the division that houses AR, VR, and Metaverse units all reported a $4 billion operating loss, with this being cited as the primary reason. Despite this, Zuckerberg maintained the company’s commitment to artificial intelligence and the Metaverse. Reiterating during the call that the company has been, and will continue to focus on both technologies.
