Bloomberg’s billionaire index 2024 witnessed a shocking development on October 4, 2024. Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg overtook Amazon’s CEO, Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest man.
This shift happened as Zuckerberg's net worth grew to about US$206.2 billion surpassing Bezos's US$205.1 billion.
The surge in Meta shares may be the biggest motivator for the astronomical rise in Zuckerberg's wealth. On Thursday, Meta shares closed at an all-time high of US$582.77. This is a huge jump of 68% since early January when shares traded for US$346.29.
He has emerged as the second richest in 2024, joining the Bloomberg list of 500 richest people with an increase in net worth of US$78 billion. The tech mogul now only lags behind the world’s first trillionaire, Elon Musk with a net worth gap of just US$50 million.
Meta CEO Zuckerberg launched the service in 2004 and rebranded the company from Facebook to Meta in 2021. He heads a list of many popular social media platforms, including Instagram and WhatsApp, adding to his wealth The jump to surpassing Bezo’s attests to the growing investor confidence in the company's resurgence and profitability this year.
Zuckerberg’s wealth is now greater than that of the well-recognized stars, including Bill Gates, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Warren Buffett. Large philanthropic donations given by Buffett have ultimately cleared a path for Zuckerberg to rise in the world wealth rankings.