Mark Zuckerberg overtakes Jeff Bezos to become the world’s second-richest person just a year after laying off 21,000 workers
Nickie Louise
Posted On October 4, 2024
Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to lay off 21,000 employees has paid off—at least from Wall Street’s perspective. Meta’s aggressive cost-cutting moves sent its stock soaring. This move not only pushed Meta’s value upward but also helped Zuckerberg surpass Jeff Bezos to become the world’s second-richest person.
While shareholders cheered the rising share price, thousands of former Meta employees now face uncertainty. The financial impact may be clear, but the human toll of these layoffs is hard to ignore. Zuckerberg’s growing fortune, however, comes on the backs of the workers who lost their jobs.
According to the latest Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Zuckerberg’s net worth hit $206 billion, pushing him past Bezos. This year alone, Zuckerberg’s fortune has grown by a staggering $78.1 billion, far outpacing Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, who has added $63.5 billion to his net worth, thanks to Nvidia’s dominance in AI hardware.
| Rank | Name | Total net worth | $ Last change | $ YTD change | Country / Region | Industry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elon Musk | $256B | – $5.97B | + $27.1B | United States | Technology |
| 2 | Mark Zuckerberg | $206B | + $3.43B | + $78.1B | United States | Technology |
| 3 | Jeff Bezos | $205B | – $2.62B | + $28.2B | United States | Technology |
| 4 | Bernard Arnault | $193B | – $2.38B | – $14.2B | France | Consumer |
| 5 | Larry Ellison | $179B | – $1.14B | + $55.9B | United States | Technology |
| 6 | Bill Gates | $161B | – $508M | + $20.4B | United States | Technology |
| 7 | Larry Page | $150B | – $64.0M | + $23.4B | United States | Technology |
| 8 | Steve Ballmer | $145B | – $213M | + $13.9B | United States | Technology |
| 9 | Warren Buffett | $143B | – $1.32B | + $22.9B | United States | Diversified |
| 10 | Sergey Brin | $141B | – $61.4M | + $21.2B | United States | Technology |
| 11 | Amancio Ortega | $114B | – $482M | + $26.1B | Spain | Retail |
| 12 | Michael Dell | $110B | + $991M | + $31.6B | United States | Technology |
| 13 | Jensen Huang | $107B | + $3.42B | + $63.5B | United States | Technology |
| 14 | Mukesh Ambani | $107B | – $4.29B | + $10.5B | India | Energy |
| 15 | Jim Walton | $103B | – $50.0M | + $30.2B | United States | Retail |
Meta’s rebound was largely driven by deep workforce cuts and a series of layoffs. In March 2023, the company laid off 10,000 workers, following an earlier round of 11,000 job cuts just four months prior. By May, another 10,000 jobs were slashed, marking the third wave of layoffs. Early last year, Meta stock surged 20% after Zuckerberg hinted at more layoffs. The company’s stock doubled in just 3 months from $89 to $180.
Just a year earlier, Meta was in a tough spot. The post-pandemic downturn hit hard, with global daily Facebook users declining for the first time in the company’s history. The resulting 24% drop in Meta’s shares wiped out $200 billion in market value.
But since hitting a low of $90 per share in November 2022, Meta has staged a dramatic comeback, now trading at $582.77. Year-to-date, the stock is up more than 64%, catapulting Zuckerberg’s wealth and securing his place ahead of Bezos, though Elon Musk remains at the top with a $50 billion lead.
Meta’s stock price over the last five years
