Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth plummets by more than $18 billion in Meta stock drop

Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth decreased by $18 billion on Thursday due to statements made by the CEO of Meta during the company’s earnings call, which caused the stock price to fall the most since October 2022.

Meta exceeded expectations in terms of revenue and profit, although its revenue estimate was lower than anticipated. Zuckerberg told investors that the business will continue to invest billions of dollars on areas such as artificial intelligence and the metaverse, despite the fact that advertising accounts for 98% of Meta’s revenue.

“We’ve historically seen a lot of volatility in our stock during this phase of our product playbook where we’re investing in scaling a new product but aren’t yet monetizing it,” Zuckerberg said in a conference call.

Zuckerberg holds around 345 million Class A and B shares. With the stock down $52.12 on Thursday, the value of his holding had dropped by nearly $18 billion to $152 billion by the end of trade.

The 39-year-old programmer created the company in his Harvard dorm room in 2004 and rebranded it from Facebook to Meta in 2021, signaling to investors that he intends to focus on the nonexistent metaverse.

Meta’s Reality Labs branch, which contains the gear and software used to construct the metaverse, has lost $45 billion in total since 2020, when the firm initially segregated the unit from its finances.

Meta said it expects to spend $35 billion to $40 billion on capital expenditures this year, up from its previous forecast.

Zuckerberg’s fortune has fluctuated throughout the years, since his company’s stock has been especially volatile. In 2022, his net worth plummeted by almost $100 billion. In early 2023, he declared that Meta would go on a “year of efficiency,” which helped the stock price triple that year, boosting Zuckerberg’s net worth up with it.

Thursday was hardly the worst day ever for Zuckerberg’s money account. In early 2022, he lost nearly $30 billion in a single day as his company’s stock price fell 26% due to dismal earnings and disappointing guidance.