- Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth plummeted by $18 billion after Meta’s stock price dropped 11% following the company’s earnings call.
- Zuckerberg spent a significant portion of the earnings call discussing Meta’s investments in artificial intelligence and the metaverse, despite the company generating 98% of its revenue from advertising.
- Meta plans to increase its capital expenditure to $35-40 billion this year, up from its previous forecast, as it continues to invest heavily in the metaverse and AI initiatives.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg saw a massive drop in his net worth on Thursday as the company’s stock plunged following its latest earnings report.
Meta Shares Plunge After Earnings Call
Meta shares dropped over 11% on Thursday, marking the stock’s steepest single-day slide since October 2022.
The plunge came after Meta reported its Q1 2023 earnings. While the company beat expectations for revenue and profit, it delivered a lighter-than-expected revenue forecast.
On the earnings call, Zuckerberg told investors that Meta would continue spending billions on long-term investments like artificial intelligence and the metaverse, even though advertising accounts for 98% of the company’s revenue.
Zuckerberg’s Net Worth Drops $18 Billion
As a major shareholder, the plunge in Meta’s stock took a huge toll on Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth.
Zuckerberg owns around 345 million Class A and Class B shares in Meta. With shares dropping over 11% on Thursday, the value of Zuckerberg’s stake sank by about $18 billion, leaving his net worth at $152 billion.
The 39-year-old founded Facebook in 2004 and rebranded it to Meta in 2021. However, the company’s investments into the metaverse have been extremely costly.
Meta’s Reality Labs division, which houses its metaverse efforts, has posted cumulative losses of $45 billion since 2020. On Thursday’s call, Zuckerberg said Meta plans to spend $35-40 billion on capital expenditures in 2023.
History of Volatility
Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune has seen extreme volatility over the years, as Meta’s stock price has been prone to big swings.
In 2022, his net worth fell by around $100 billion. But a rally in Meta’s stock in early 2023 brought his net worth back up significantly.
Thursday’s $18 billion drop is large, but not Zuckerberg’s worst single-day loss. In early 2022, he lost almost $30 billion in one day when Meta shares plummeted 26% following disappointing results.
