Meet man, who could become richest person on Earth, runs Rs 1485700 crore company, not Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Ambani

Mark Zuckerberg who is the CEO of Meta Platforms, has rapidly climbed the ranks of the world's richest people, with a chance of becoming the wealthiest for the first time. Meta is the parent company of popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Zuckerberg’s net worth has grown by an impressive $51 billion this year, reaching $179 billion.

Currently, Zuckerberg ranks fourth among the richest individuals, behind Tesla's Elon Musk (worth $248 billion), Amazon's Jeff Bezos (worth $202 billion), and Bernard Arnault of LVMH (worth $180 billion). Although he started the year in sixth place, he briefly moved into third position, overtaking Arnault last week.

While Musk and Bezos still have a considerable lead over him, their fortunes could change quickly due to the volatility in the tech industry. For example, Musk's wealth dropped to $164 billion as recently as April, and Bezos' worth was slightly lower at the start of this year than Zuckerberg’s current fortune. A few rough days for Tesla or Amazon, along with good news for Meta, could allow Zuckerberg to close the gap.

Meta, Tesla, and Amazon are all giant U.S. tech companies, so the fortunes of Zuckerberg, Musk, and Bezos tend to rise and fall together. However, unexpected events like a bad earnings report, a lawsuit, or an antitrust investigation could shift the balance. Large donations by Musk or Bezos to charity could also push Zuckerberg ahead, much like how Warren Buffett, who has donated over half of his wealth, isn’t the richest man in the world despite his $300 billion fortune.

Zuckerberg’s wealth has increased far more than that of Musk and Bezos this year, with gains of $51 billion compared to their $19 billion and $25 billion, respectively. At 40 years old, Zuckerberg is also younger than both Musk (53) and Bezos (60), giving him more time to grow his wealth.

Zuckerberg’s Early Start and Recent Comeback

Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004 at the age of 19 and took it public in 2012. Today, Meta has a market value of $1.3 trillion, making it one of the world’s largest companies, bigger than even Tesla or JPMorgan. Zuckerberg has recovered from a challenging period when Meta’s stock lost 75% of its value between 2021 and 2022, dropping his net worth to just $35 billion.

Since then, Meta’s stock has skyrocketed, climbing over fivefold, and gaining 65% in the past year alone. The rise is fueled by investor confidence in Meta's potential to benefit from AI advancements and Zuckerberg’s more conservative spending. If the current trends continue, Zuckerberg might soon be chasing Musk and Bezos for the title of the richest person in the world.