Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg replaces Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to become world's second-richest person

Zuckerberg replaces Bezos: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg surpassed Amazon founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos on Friday to take the title of the world's second-richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires’ Index. Zuckerberg's net worth now stands at $206 billion, falling behind only to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who leads with $256 billion. 

Zuckerberg co-founded Facebook (now Meta) in 2004. Over the past two decades, the company has grown into one of the most influential platforms for global communication and information exchange.

Meta shares have surged 23 per cent following better-than-expected second-quarter sales and the company's emphasis on advancing large language models, which drive AI chatbots. On Thursday, the stock reached a record high, closing at $582.77.

Currently, Meta is on a spree to invest billions in virtual reality and artificial intelligence spaces with a clear focus on building an interactive augmented reality. The core advertising business of the company also stands robust with its ad revenues increasing with every quarter. 

Zuckerberg, who holds a 13 per cent stake in the company, has seen his wealth increase by $78 billion this year—the largest gain among the 500 richest individuals tracked by the Bloomberg index. The 40-year-old co-founder and CEO has climbed four positions on the wealth index this year.

Following Bezos are Bernard Arnault, founder, chairman and CEO of LVMH, Larry Ellison, co-founder, Oracle, Bill Gates, co-founder, Microsoft. Larry Page, Steve Balmer, Warrant Buffett, and Alphabet’s former president Sergy Bin stand among the top 10 richest person in the world list. India’s Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Ambani stand at 14th and 17th rank in the index.