Mark Zuckerberg down to world's 10th richest after Facebook stock crash

The chief executive of Facebook parent company Meta shed $31 billion of personal wealth following the steep decline of the company’s stock.

Shares of Meta fell 26.4% on Thursday, losing more than $230 billion in market capitalization in the largest ever one-day loss in market value for a U.S. company. Investors were caught off-guard by a disappointing financial forecast, which the company attributed to stiff competition from rival TikTok and Apple’s new ad-privacy policies, which are expected to cost Meta more than $10 billion on lost ad sales.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Zuckerberg’s drop in paper wealth is greater than the entire market value of many companies on the S&P 500, including Twitter ($28 billion) and Delta Air Lines ($25 billion).

Zuckberg is still the 10^th richest person in the world, according the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk holds the number one position on the list of the world’s richest people with an estimated $231 billion net worth. He took the top spot from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos about a year ago, which Musk commemorated by replying to a Bezos tweet with a silver medal emoji.

🥈

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 11, 2021

Bezos is now the third wealthiest in the world with an estimated net worth of $164 billion, behind Bernard Arnault, the French businessman whose company owns Hennessy and Louis Vuitton.

The world’s richest have their net worth partially tied up in shares of their businesses, meaning big swings in their stock prices can significantly affect their wealth. This is especially true for tech founders and executives, notes the Wall Street Journal.

The World’s Most Richest People by Total Net Worth, according to Bloomberg as of Feb. 3, 2022

1. Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX: $231 billion

2. Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE: $167 billion

3. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon: $164 billion

4. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft: $129 billion

5. Larry Page, co-founder of Google: $127 billion

6. Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google: $122 billion

7. Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway: $114 billion

8. Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft: $108 billion

9. Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle: $100 billion

10. Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook: $89 billion