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Mark Zuckerberg became the world's second-richest person for the first time on Thursday, surpassing Jeff Bezos as shares of Meta Platforms Inc. continue to rise.
Zuckerberg's investment in the metaverse, which initially seemed like a major misstep, has recently paid off, boosting his net worth to a record $206.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This positions him $1.1 billion ahead of Amazon.com Inc.'s Bezos and nearly $50 billion behind Tesla Inc.'s Elon Musk.
Meta's stock has increased by 23% since the company reported better-than-expected sales in the second quarter and highlighted its advancements in large language models that drive AI chatbots. The stock reached an all-time high of $582.77 on Thursday.
Meta has heavily invested in data centers and computing power as Zuckerberg aims to establish a leading role in the competitive AI landscape. The company is also advancing other long-term initiatives, such as its Orion augmented reality glasses, introduced last month.
Zuckerberg, who holds a 13% stake in the Menlo Park, California-based firm, has seen his wealth grow by $78 billion this year, the largest increase among the world's 500 richest individuals tracked by the Bloomberg index.
The 40-year-old co-founder and CEO has moved up four spots on the wealth index this year.