Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks about the Facebook News feature at the Paley Center for Media in New York on October 25, 2019.
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Mark ZuckerbergUS net worth fell by $18 billion on Thursday following comments from the government. Meta The CEO on the company's earnings call sent the company's stock price down the most since October 2022.
Meta beat expectations on revenue and profits but gave a softer-than-expected revenue forecast. Zuckerberg told investors the company would continue spend billions dollars invested in areas like artificial intelligence and the metaverse, even though Meta counts 98% of its revenue from advertising.
“In the past, we've seen a lot of volatility in our stocks during this phase of our product strategy as we've been investing in scaling,” Zuckerberg said on the call. a new product but not making money from it yet.”
Zuckerberg owns about 345 million Class A and B shares. With the stock falling $52.12 on Thursday, the value of his stake fell about $18 billion to $152 billion at the close of trading.
The 39-year-old programmer founded the company in his Harvard dorm room in 2004 and changed the company's name from Facebook to Meta in 2021, signaling to investors his plans to focus on the non-existent metaverse .
Meta's Reality Labs division, which houses the hardware and software for metaverse development, posted Total damage was 45 billion USD since 2020, when the company first financially separated the unit.
Meta said it plans to spend between $35 billion and $40 billion on capital expenditures this year, up from previous forecasts.
Zuckerberg's wealth has fluctuated over the years as his company's stock has been particularly volatile. His net worth fell by about $100 billion in 2022. In early 2023, he announced Meta would embark on a “productive year,” a move that would see its stock price triple during the year, causing Zuckerberg's net worth to increase.
Thursday wasn't the worst day for Zuckerberg's bank account. In early 2022, he almost died 30 billion USD in just one day, when his company's stock price fell 26% on weak earnings and disappointing forecasts.
