Zuckerberg’s Wealth Soars to $201B as Meta Shifts Focus to AI and Metaverse

Mark Zuckerberg, the tech visionary behind Meta, now ranks as the fourth-richest individual globally with a fortune of $201 billion, thanks to the company’s pivot to metaverse technology and artificial intelligence.

Since Meta’s rebranding from Facebook in 2021, the company’s stock price has surged to about $567 per share, recovering from its November 2022 low of $88.

The initial shift to focus on augmented reality and AI led to a sharp drop in Meta’s stock, with prices falling from around $300 to their lowest point in late 2022. However, the tech landscape has since evolved, with major players like Apple, Google, Nvidia, and Microsoft joining the race to develop metaverse hardware.

As of September 2024, Zuckerberg’s wealth puts him just behind Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Bernard Arnault, according to Bloomberg.

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At the Meta Connect event in late September, Zuckerberg introduced the Orion augmented reality glasses, which project a digital interface over real-world objects. He also showcased the more affordable Quest 3S virtual reality headset, set to replace the older Quest 3 model.

Despite the rise in stock price since the rebrand, Meta reduced its metaverse budget by 20% in mid-2024 and instructed Reality Labs to cut costs further by 2026. The division has lost $60 billion since 2019, facing challenges with profitability amid a shift toward AI applications.

Zuckerberg has emphasized the company’s renewed focus on AI, including the release of an advanced open-source AI model and continued success with AI-integrated products like the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

Alexander Stefanov