Mark Zuckerberg beats Jeff Bezos to become world’s 2nd-richest person

Mark Zuckerberg has become the second-richest person in the world, surpassing Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault. The Meta CEO’s net worth has reached $206 billion ( ₹17.3 lakh crore), according to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, making him second only to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who holds the top spot with $256 billion ( ₹21.5 lakh crore).
In 2024, Zuckerberg’s fortune increased by an impressive $78.1 billion ( ₹6.5 lakh crore), allowing him to join the exclusive $200-billion club. This group now includes Musk and Bezos, with Bezos slightly behind at $205 billion ( ₹17.3 lakh crore).
Arnault saw his wealth drop to $193 billion ( ₹16.2 lakh crore), pushing him out of the club.
Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook in 2004, owes much of his wealth to Meta Platforms’ success. Shares of Meta have risen by more than 72% this year, with the stock closing at a record high of $595.94. Meta owns major social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Threads and the messaging app WhatsApp.
At the Meta Connect 2024 event on September 25, the 40-year-old billionaire announced that Meta AI was on track to become the most widely-used digital assistant globally. He mentioned that the service is nearing 500 million active users, with further expansion expected in larger markets like the European Union.
“I would like people to look back on us and say, ‘Oh, they took a bunch of really big swings. And maybe not everything that they did worked. But a bunch of the stuff that they did really kind of pushed the industry and pushed the world in different directions, and that was cool,” Mark said.
Other tech leaders have also seen significant growth in their fortunes this year. Jensen Nvidia CEO Huang and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison have added $63.5 billion ( ₹5.3 lakh crore) and $55.9 billion ( ₹4.7 lakh crore), respectively, to their net worths in 2024.
$1= ₹84.03