Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, seen here in 2019, has personally and repeatedly thwarted initiatives meant to improve the well-being of teens on Facebook and Instagram, at times directly overruling some of his most senior lieutenants, according to internal communications made public as part of an ongoing lawsuit against the company. (Mark Lennihan/AP)
By Alex Perry | Bloomberg
Mark Zuckerberg became the world’s second-richest person for the first time Thursday, jumping ahead of Jeff Bezos as shares of Meta Platforms Inc. continue to climb.
Zuckerberg’s bet on the metaverse — which initially looked like a huge bust — has paid off in recent months, pushing his net worth to a high-water mark of $206.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That puts him $1.1 billion ahead of Amazon.com Inc.’s Bezos and almost $50 billion behind Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk.
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Meta shares have risen 23% since reporting better-than-expected sales in the second quarter and touting its push into the type of large language models that power AI chatbots. The stock closed Thursday at all-time high of $582.77.
Meta has spent heavily on data centers and computing power as Zuckerberg works to build a leading position in the industry-wide AI race. The company has also moved ahead with other long-term projects, including its Orion augmented reality glasses, which the company introduced last month.
Zuckerberg, who owns a 13% stake in the Menlo Park, California-based company, has seen his fortune grow $78 billion so far this year, the most of any of the world’s 500 richest people tracked by the Bloomberg index.
The 40-year-old co-founder and chief executive officer has gained four spots this year on the wealth index.
–With assistance from Jack Witzig.
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Originally published at Bloomberg