CEO Mark Zuckerberg Surpasses Microsoft Founder Bill Gates to Become the 4th Wealthiest Person

The stock price of Facebook’s parent company, Meta Platforms, has surged, significantly increasing the wealth of CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

On February 2nd (local time), Meta’s stock price closed at approximately 635,774 won ($474.99) on the New York Stock Exchange, a whopping 20.32% increase from the previous day. This marked an all-time high. The market capitalization also increased by 267 trillion won ($200 billion) in a single day, reaching a record $1.221 trillion.

The stock price surge was thanks to the financial results announced the previous day. After the announcement, the stock price in after-hours trading jumped about 15%, and it rose even more during regular trading.

According to Meta, their revenue for the last quarter increased by 25% compared to the same period a year ago. The total profit jumped three times more compared to the same period last year.

Moreover, they announced the implementation of dividends for the first time, showcasing the company’s future performance. The dividend is $0.50 per share. They also revealed a $50 billion plan to buy back their shares, which further fueled the stock price increase.

Due to this surge in stock prices, the wealth of CEO Mark Zuckerberg also increased. Bloomberg, releasing their Billionaires Index, explained, “Zuckerberg’s assets were worth $142 billion until the previous day, but with the stock price rising over 20%, his asset value increased by $28 billion in a single day, skyrocketing to $170 billion.”

Thanks to this, Zuckerberg surpassed Microsoft founder Bill Gates to become the world’s fourth-richest billionaire. Zuckerberg holds approximately 13% of Meta’s shares, or 350 million shares. As a result, he is expected to earn hundreds of billions won in dividends. If Meta pays $0.5 per share per quarter, Zuckerberg’s quarterly dividend would be $175 million, and he could earn $700 million in dividends per year.