Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg is now the world’s sixth richest person and is the fourth wealthiest in the U.S., and all this happened while he was on his two-month paternity leave. This happened because of a rise of 12% in the social media website’s stock after the company released a strong quarterly earnings report that pushed Zuckerberg’s wealth to $47.9 billion this week, reported Forbes.
Zuckerberg returns rich
Facebook founder has been on a two-month paternity leave since November when his net worth was estimated at $47.1 billion. He returned to work last Monday. “Maxima,” or Max, Zuckerberg’s daughter, is now the heir to the massive fortune of the Silicon Valley tycoon.
Zuckerberg, a Harvard University graduate and just 31 years of age, is the youngest of the ten richest people in the world. He holds a higher position on the list than Google founder Larry Page, the Koch brothers and Oracle’s Larry Ellison.
In 2014, Zuckerberg held the 14th spot, and from there rose to the 7th position last year, thus entering the top ten list. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, with a fortune worth $76.2 billion, is the richest person in the world. Zara founder Amancio Ortega is at the second position with a net worth of around $68.4 billion.
Facebook CEO is rich and a philanthropist
Zuckerberg and his wife plan to donate 99% of their wealth to worthy causes. Last year, Zuckerberg and his wife vowed to donate $120 million to improve education in the San Francisco Bay area. Five years ago, they also donated $100 million to remake education in Newark.
In September 2009, Zuckerberg appeared on Forbes’ 400 richest people in America, and his net worth at that time was $2 billion. This was two years prior to Facebook’s IPO in May 2012. The social network has been consistently smashing investors’ expectations, and therefore, Zuckerberg’s wealth has increased exponentially since the IPO.
For the last quarter, the social network witnessed 52% growth in its quarterly revenue. Facebook’s strong growth makes it capable of challenging Google, which is the Internet’s most powerful company.
On Thursday, Facebook shares closed up 15.52% at $109.11. Year to date, the stock is up by over 4%, while in the last year, it is up by over 40%. In premarket trading today, shares were down marginally.
