Mark Zuckerberg is now world’s second-richest person, ahead of Jeff Bezos…see more

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.

Wall Street has continuously cheered Meta throughout 2024 as the company has consistently reported quarterly earnings that have surpassed analyst estimates.

With his 13% stake in Meta, Zuckerberg’s net-worth has risen by $78 billion since the beginning of the year, which is more than any member of the of the 500 richest people that the Bloomberg Index tracks.

Meta shares closed at a record high on Thursday at $582.77, representing a roughly 68% jump from early January when its shares were trading at $346.29.

While Meta has continued spending billions of dollars on the virtual and augmented reality technologies needed to underpin the futuristic concept of the metaverse, investors have become more tolerant of the investments as long as the company’s core ad business remains healthy.