Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is now world’s second richest person

Facebook co-founder and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has surpassed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to become world’s second richest man. As per Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index 2024, Zuckerberg's net worth has reached $206.2 billion, exceeding the $205.1 billion net worth of Bezos. The Meta CEO now lags behind Tesla CEO Elon Musk by $50 billion.

This comes days after Zuckerberg joined the $200 billion club, joining Tesla CEO’s Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault.

Meta shares closed at a record high

Zuckerberg’s rise to the second spot on the index is driven by an increase in Meta shares. On Thursday, Meta shares closed at a record high of $582.77, indicating a roughly 68% jump from early January when its shares were trading at $346.29. Zuckerberg has a 13% share in Meta. Since the beginning of 2024, Zuckerberg’s net-worth has risen by $78 billion, which is more than any member of the 500 richest people that the Bloomberg Index tracks.

Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook in 2014. It was rebranded as Meta on October 28, 2021. It is the parent company of popular social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and Threads, as well as instant messaging app WhatsApp.

Zuckerberg’s rise to the second spot on the index on Thursday underscores how his personal wealth has grown alongside investor enthusiasm over the social media giant’s rising profits this year.