Mark Zuckerberg Loses Over R1 Trillion in 2022, Falls to 20th Richest Person in the World

• Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, has lost more money this year than any other billion
• The tech titan saw his vast wealth decline from $152 billion (over R2 trillion) in 2021 to $56 billion (R900 billion) this year
• He has lost about $71 billion (R1 trillion), which is 50 per cent of his wealth this year, as his company focuses on the metaverse

The founder of Facebook, now Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, has seen his fortune drop by a massive $71 billion (R1 trillion) since the beginning of 2022.

Tech billionaires have lost vast fortunes, but Zuckerberg’s losses are more poignant among them.

From 5th to 20th richest person on earth

His wealth dropped by more than 50 per cent from its height of $152 billion (over R2 trillion) in September 2022.

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Zuckerberg still has almost $56 billion (R900 billion) net worth but is no longer one of the few cent-billionaires worldwide.

The tech titan is now the 20th richest person in the world, his lowest position on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index since 2014.

The metaverse entrepreneur’s wealth is mainly tied to the stock of Meta. However, about 350 million shares and a combination of shifting business models and external factors caused his company’s share price and personal fortune to drop massively.

The company shifted focus from advertising revenue on social media to actualising the metaverse in a pivot led by Zuckerberg.

Metaverse draining Meta's resources

He admitted to shareholders that pouring resources into the metaverse cause the company a lot of money in the short term.

According to Insider, employees say that the metaverse is the only thing the billionaire focuses on.

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The employees have little to celebrate due to their investment in the metaverse.

The tech billionaire’s first metaverse picture was a subject of ridicule on the internet.

Longtime Chief Operating Officer at Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg and the engineer behind the company’s advertising business model left the company this year.

However, Apple’s app tracking transparency policy has made it harder for social apps like Facebook and its sister firm, Instagram, to collect data about their users, partially crippling Meta’s ability to see data to advertisers.

The company is finding it challenging to handle the medial social landscape despite being the most prominent social media in the world.

Shifting models not helping

The introduction of Facebook and Instagram Reels did not tackle the growing popularity of TikTok, and Facebook lost users in the second quarter of 2022.

The company’s stock is down since the beginning of the year.

Like Meta, other top brands, including Amazon and Google, are having a bad year but are not struggling.

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According to Bloomberg’s report, Zuckerberg tried some personal rebranding by appearing on the Joe Rogan podcast and sharing videos of him practising martial arts.

Zuckerberg still maintains a vast fortune but has seen some of the most significant individual losses in modern wealth.

Elon Musk terminates R7.9 Billion social network company Twitter buyout deal

In a related matter, Briefly News Elon Musk has terminated his bid to buy out social networking company Twitter in a multi-billion deal.

According to the New York Post, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said he was ending his deal with Twitter stating the social media company failed to provide requisite information about fake accounts.

Musk had made his offer to buy the giant social media platform on April 25.

Source: Legit.ng