Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has seen his wealth increase by $10 billion, amid cost-cutting measures at the company.
After Meta’s first quarter (Q1) report which surpassed analysts’ expectations, the company’s stock ended 14 percent higher, which boosted Zuckerberg’s fortune to $87.3 billion, also pushing him up to the 12th position on the Bloomberg Billionaires index. Zuckerberg is now ahead of Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani who has a net worth of around $82.5 billion.
Recall that last year, the tech CEO who started the year with a $125 billion fortune, lost a whopping $70 billion in net worth, which saw his wealth decline to $55.3 billion, a 55% fall. This saw Zuckerberg tumble 14 spots on the list of the world’s richest people, to occupy the 20th position.
One of the reasons behind his decline in fortune was reportedly down to the fall in the revenue of his company, Meta. The company’s downward trajectory began shortly after Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would rebrand itself as Meta and shift its focus toward the metaverse. This expensive initiative cost Meta $10 billion in investments last year alone and was widely panned by the public.
For the first time in its history, Facebook saw a drop in the number of users, with around a million daily users in the final quarter of 2021.
Also in February last year, Meta stock plunged nearly 23% after unexpected spending on its “metaverse” led to a decline in its fourth-quarter profit, in addition to a lower-than-expected revenue outlook, amid its growing rivalry with TikTok.
Investors King understands that concerning Meta’s recent First quarter report for 2023, the company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg is impressed by the results after surpassing analysts’ expectations.
The CEO added that AI work is driving good results across Meta’s apps and business, and it is becoming more efficient to be able to build better products faster and put it in a stronger position to deliver its long-term vision.
Despite reporting repeated losses in billions of dollars in the creation of its Metaverse, Zuckerberg disclosed that he is fully dedicated to developing the virtual-reality online world, noting that the company will remain committed to the project.