Many digital billionaires have seen their personal wealth decline since the 2022 stock market crash, but none more so than Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
A brief about Mark Zuckerberg’s Net Worth Has Decreased by $71 Billion this Year:
According to calculations by Bloomberg, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of the business formerly known as Facebook, has seen his net worth fall by over $71 billion this year. Zuckerberg, who is now 38, dropped from third place last year to number 22 this year on the Forbes billionaires list.
The steep decline in Meta’s stock, which represents the majority of Zuckerberg’s wealth, is to blame for the decline. Although the financial markets decline this year has reduced the wealth of some internet billionaires by about a quarter, nobody — not even cryptocurrency CEO Changpeng Zhao — has experienced a wipeout comparable to that of Zuckerberg.
Since Facebook changed its name to Meta almost a year ago, its stock price has fallen by around 60%, lowering Zuckerberg’s net worth.
The problem with the company’s traditional revenue model, which depends on selling a tonne of advertising against very detailed user data, is highlighted by its transition to the Metaverse. Changes to Apple’s iOS 14 made tracking more difficult for marketers last year, which significantly reduced Meta’s revenue.
According to CFRA analyst Angelo Zino, who specializes in social media firms, Meta and Snap depend most heavily on iOS users. He cited Alphabet, the parent company of Google, claiming that their profitability had fared better “because they’re not as subject to the iOS changes.”
He continued, “The privacy issue has proven to be far more difficult than most people had anticipated, and it’s likely going to persist for a lot longer than anyone had thought.
In February, Meta revealed its first-ever decline in user counts along with sluggish revenue. The corporation has also raised spending by about $10 billion annually to complete the virtual reality Metaverse, a project that Zuckerberg has indicated could take many years to complete. Investors who notice a spike in short-term expenditure without a guarantee of a return may be concerned.
According to Zuckerberg, “you know the next vision for the wider internet may theoretically come to pass, you just don’t know how long it takes and what exactly Meta’s function will be all you know right now is, basically, it’s going to cost a lot of money.”
