Mark Zuckerberg is now worth $204 billion — only $4 billion away from overtaking Jeff Bezos as the 2nd-richest person

Zuckerberg could also climb to the peak if Musk and Bezos make some large philanthropic donations. After all, the only reason that Warren Buffett isn’t the richest person on the planet with a $300 billion-plus net worth is that he’s donated more than half his Berkshire Hathaway stock.

The Meta chief has been outpacing Musk and Bezos in wealth accumulation this year, putting him on track to overtake them. His $76 billion gain since January far surpasses their respective increases of around $40 billion and $31 billion.

Zuckerberg, 40, probably has more time than Musk, 53, and Bezos, 60, to grow his already vast fortune. Buffett amassed over 99% of his fortune after turning 65, author Morgan Housel notes in “The Psychology of Money.” That shows how powerful a long time horizon is in compounding wealth.

Despite being far younger, Zuckerberg commands a greater net worth than business titans Bill Gates, Buffett, and the “Google Guys,” Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Early start

Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004 when he was 19 and took it public in 2012 at age 28. Meta now stands as the world’s sixth-largest public company with an almost $1.5 trillion market capitalization, making it more valuable than Buffett’s Berkshire ($985 billion), Musk’s Tesla ($824 billion), Walmart ($653 billion), JPMorgan ($589 billion), and many other corporate behemoths.

Zuckerberg has staged quite a comeback in recent years. Meta stock tanked by more than 75% between September 2021 and November 2022 as investors balked at its leader’s decision to plow tens of billions of dollars into its nascent metaverse business, and soured on tech stocks more broadly. The slump slashed Zuckerberg’s net worth to just $35 billion at its nadir.

But the stock has soared over fivefold since then — and 89% in the past year — to hover at record levels of above $570. The rally, which has more than quintupled Zuckerberg’s net worth, reflects Wall Street betting that Meta will win big from the AI revolution, and investors’ relief that Zuckerberg has reined in his spending.

Zuckerberg hasn’t edged past Bezos or started nipping at Musk’s heels yet, but his strong momentum and the vicissitudes of tech wealth could mean that soon changes.