According to the sources, Mark Zuckerberg is getting poorer by the day. With the firm shares falling precipitously this year, the CEO of Meta has watched his fortune shrink. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Zuckerberg’s wealth has decreased by $76.6 billion, or 61%, since the year 2022. This includes a $2.7 billion loss of value in a single day following the release of dismal Q3 2022 earnings from Meta.
Zuckerberg Lost a lot of Wealth
With a net worth of $48.9 billion, Zuckerberg has dropped from a height of $102 billion in August 2020 to rank as the 23rd richest person in the world. After reporting a 52 percent fall in profits to $4.4 billion in Q3 2022, Meta stock plunged 19% in after-hours trading on Wednesday to $105.20. This is the bottom line’s second straight quarterly decline.
Additionally, the parent company of Facebook suffered a 4% decline in revenue, falling to $27.7 billion in the third quarter. Its sales projection for the current quarter (Q4 2022) is $30–32.5 billion, which is less than it was a year ago.
Zuckerberg stated that although they are still behind schedule, they anticipate getting back on track with revenue growth next year. He noted that the product trends look better from what he sees than some of the commentaries he has read indicate, despite continuing to navigate several hard aspects, including a volatile macroeconomy, expanding competition, advertisements signal loss, and rising costs from their long-term investments.
Investors and stockholders alike have criticized the 38-year-old Facebook CEO for his audacious but mysterious gamble on the Metaverse, which has driven up Meta’s capex while placing pressure on its core businesses and alienating staff. There are too many people, too many ideas, and not enough urgent situations in Meta.
Brad Gerstner, CEO of Altimeter Capital (a shareholder in Meta), wrote to Mark Zuckerberg earlier this week about how this lack of focus and health is concealed when growth is simple but lethal when growth stops and technology changes.
Metaverse and Reality Labs
With only $285 million in revenue in Q3 2022, Meta Reality Labs, the company’s hub for metaverse and AR/VR projects, experienced an operating loss of $3.67 billion. To develop his “future vision for the Metaverse,” Zuckerberg has invested $10 billion.
The CEO defended his concept for the Metaverse by acknowledging that many people could argue with this investment. However, he believes that this is going to be a very crucial issue and that it would be erroneous for them to ignore any of these areas, as they may turn out to be critically vital for the future. As a result, they will endeavor to carry out this task responsibly and in line with the steady expansion of the rest of the company.
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