Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg surpassed oil magnates Charles and David Koch to become the sixth wealthiest person in the world as the company’s stock soared 13%.
The social networking company reported a 52% rise in fourth-quarter sales yesterday, while its net income saw a twofold increase to $1.56 billion. These earnings beat street estimates, resulting in the rise in shares. As most of Zuckerberg’s fortune is tied to his holdings in Facebook, the stock price increase made him richer by $6 billion in one day. The 31-year-old is now worth $47.5 billion.
Yesterday’s surge turned a year-to-date decline of more than $4-billion for Zuckerberg into a $1.2-billion gain for the year and pushed him above the Kochs, whose businesses have been hit by lower oil prices.
The five billionaires above Zuckerberg in the ranking – Bill Gates, Amancio Ortega, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos and Carlos Slim – have lost a combined $24-billion as global equities slumped amid dimming investor expectations of global growth.
Notably, the five richest people in the world have seen their wealth decrease over the past year.
