KUALA LUMPUR – Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is now fourth in the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List after shares soared following its financial results – with his net worth ballooning almost 20% to US$167 billion (approximately RM788 billion).
With Meta shares surging on the Nasdaq, Zuckerberg – who has about 13% stake – added US$27.6 billion to his net worth.
The tech giant, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, reported a profit of US$14 billion in the final three months of last year, beating forecasts as revenue climbed to US$40.1 billion in the quarter.
This places Zuckerberg, 39, ahead of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, investment guru Warren Buffett, and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
Leading the list is Bernard Arnault, 74, chairman and CEO of the French fashion powerhouse LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton with US$212 billion.
He is followed by SpaceX, Tesla, and X CEO Elon Musk, with US$198 billion in second place, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, in third with almost US$194 billion.
At a heated hearing in the US Congress on Thursday (Malaysian time), Zuckerberg was asked to publicly apologise to the families of child victims of sexual exploitation on his platforms.
Meta is facing a suit brought by about 40 US states suing the company for not doing enough to thwart online dangers toward children, from sexual predators to teen suicide.
“I’m sorry for everything you have all been through. No one should go through the things that your families have suffered.”Zuckerberg along with top executives from Discord, Snap, TikTok and X testified at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled “Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis”. – February 3, 2024