Mark Zuckerberg loses $71 billion this year after entering the metaverse

Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to change his focus and enter the metaverse has cost him dearly. The largest loss for a billionaire listed on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index this year was $71 billion (5.65 lakh crore) in wealth for Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. The Meta CEO is currently ranked 20th among world billionaires, down one spot from 2014 and behind three Waltons and two members of the Koch family.

Only Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos command larger fortunes today than Zuckerberg, 38, who was worth $106 billion and part of an exclusive group of global billionaires less than two years ago. When the company’s shares hit a high of $382 in September 2021, his wealth grew to a peak of $142 billion.

Zuckerberg introduced Meta and renamed the company’s name from Facebook Inc. in October last year. The company has since experienced a decline, according to the report. The company revealed in February that there had been no increase in the number of monthly Facebook users, which caused a massive drop in the price of its shares and a $31 billion decrease in the CEO’s net worth.

The stock is being hurt by Meta’s investments in the metaverse, claims senior internet analyst Laura Martin. She added that TikTok, currently the leading competitor, is where Meta needs to win back users. Compared to the majority of its FAANG peers, Meta has performed worse in 2022. The acronym FAANG stands for Facebook, Apple, Netflix, Amazon, and Google. According to the Bloomberg report, it has decreased by about 57% this year.

As per the company’s statement, Zuckerberg holds $350 million in Meta. In a way, Zuckerberg has tried to rebrand. In a three-hour interview on Joe Rogan’s podcast, he repeatedly referred to himself as a “product designer” and recently posted a video of himself engaging in mixed martial arts.