Mark Zuckerberg has surged to become the world’s second-richest person for the first time, surpassing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
As of Thursday, Zuckerberg’s net worth reached $206.2 billion, driven by the steady rise of Meta Platforms Inc. shares. This places him $1.1 billion ahead of Bezos and just behind Elon Musk, who remains the wealthiest person with a significant lead of nearly $50 billion.
Zuckerberg’s resurgence comes as his bet on the metaverse, once seen as a potential misstep, begins to show results.
Meta shares have jumped 23% following strong second-quarter sales and the company’s growing focus on artificial intelligence, particularly large language models. The stock reached a new all-time high, closing at $582.77.
Meta’s investments in data centers and computing power have paid off as the company continues to stake its claim in the competitive AI landscape. Additionally, Zuckerberg has pushed forward with long-term projects like the recently introduced Orion augmented reality glasses.
So far this year, Zuckerberg has added $78 billion to his wealth, more than any of the 500 individuals tracked by the Bloomberg index. The 40-year-old Meta co-founder has climbed four positions on the wealth list in 2024.
Get instant and latest news updates via Our WhatsApp Community, X/Twitter or Google News online channel.