California: Mark Zuckerberg's wealth soared by more than $10 billion (Dh36.7 billion) on Thursday, his third-biggest jump on record, after Meta Platforms Inc. surprised investors with robust first-quarter sales. Meta shares rose 14 per cent after the earnings report, lifting Zuckerberg's fortune to $87.3 billion and boosting him up a notch on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index to 12th place.
It's the highest the Meta CEO's wealth has been in more than a year. Zuckerberg's biggest one-day increases in net worth are $12.5 billion on February 2, and $11 billion about a year ago.
Thursday's move reversed the wealth destruction Zuckerberg experienced in 2022, when his net worth fell 57 per cent - or $71 billion - after a costly pivot to the metaverse and an industry-wide slump stirred concern over the company's growth prospects.
The billionaire used Thursday's results to burnish his case for pressing on with investments in areas like AI and virtual reality. The company has also focused on paring costs through lower spending and layoffs, in what Zuckerberg has described as "the year of efficiency."
