A near mirror image in stock-price performance has helped catapult Mark Zuckerberg ahead of Elon Musk as the world’s third-richest person, according to data from Bloomberg.
Mark Zuckerberg had a net worth of $175 billion as of Wednesday, just slightly overtaking Musk’s net worth of $174 billion. That gap is set to widen on Thursday as shares of Tesla decline to a new 52-week low while Meta Platforms stock pushes toward all-time highs.
Year-to-date, Zuckerberg has added $47.3 billion to his net worth while Musk has seen his net worth decline by $55.2 billion. That decline has knocked Musk down from the status of being the world’s richest person to the world’s fourth richest person.
Musk is ahead of Bill Gates’ $149 billion fortune, while Zuckerberg is behind Jeff Bezos’ $203 billion fortune and Bernard Arnault’s $221 billion net worth.
Driving the shift in fortunes for Musk and Zuckerberg is the performance of their respective stocks. Meta Platforms has surged 43% year-to-date, while shares of Tesla are down nearly 40%.
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Solid fourth-quarter earnings results, a newly initiated dividend, and growing investor enthusiasm for the impact artificial intelligence is having on Meta Platforms’ underlying business are in stark contrast to the slowing sales growth at Tesla, declining profit margins, and “thesis-changing” robotaxi pivot at Tesla.
Zuckerberg’s source of wealth is extremely concentrated in Meta Platforms stock. The Facebook co-founder owns about 13% of the social media company. That’s in contrast to Musk, who has many business ventures driving his fortune, including Tesla, SpaceX, and X.
Musk and Zuckerberg have been at odds with each other in the past, culminating in both agreeing to fighting in a cage match last year. The fight never happened.
