Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg becomes world's third richest, enters exclusive club of Rs...

In a world where billionaires seem larger than life, a new elite club has emerged—the $200 billion club. And it’s not just a title for the super-rich; only three names have made it to this exclusive summit: Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Tesla’s Elon Musk, and now, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg. The question remains—how did Zuckerberg ascend to this financial peak?

With his fortune growing by a staggering Rs 604170 crore this year alone, Zuckerberg now sits comfortably with a Rs 1673603 crore net worth, trailing behind Musk's Rs 2217523 crore and Bezos’ Rs 1807491 crore. His wealth surge is largely credited to Meta's stock performance, which has soared 60% since the beginning of 2024, propelling him ahead of tech titans like Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Microsoft’s Bill Gates.

Despite taking a mere Rs 84 salary, Zuckerberg has benefited immensely from "other compensation," which totalled Rs 204 crore this year. Most of this goes toward his personal security, a measure Meta itself describes as crucial, given the negative sentiment that often surrounds its CEO. As Meta stated in an SEC filing, “Negative sentiment regarding our company is often transferred to Mr. Zuckerberg.”

Zuckerberg has also steered Meta’s ship through turbulent times with his “Year of Efficiency” initiative, cutting costs through mass layoffs while prioritising AI-driven innovation. He believes Meta AI will become the most widely used AI assistant globally by year’s end, a focus that has bolstered Meta’s revenue by 22% in the second quarter alone.

With this remarkable rise, Zuckerberg has cemented his place among the wealthiest figures in modern history, proving that his ability to “learn faster than every other company” has kept Meta at the cutting edge of tech—and him at the top of the world’s wealth rankings.