Provided byDow Jones
By Tomi Kilgore
CEO Zuckerberg owns more than 350 million Meta shares, or nearly 14% of the shares outstanding
Meta Platforms Inc. investors must be happy as the social-media giant's stock soared Thursday on the back of a blowout earnings report, but there's one person in particular who has to be ecstatic.
Mark Zuckerberg, who is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of the Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp parent, owns 350,577,496 Meta shares, according to the company's 2022 proxy statement released earlier this month.
That makes Zuckerberg by far the largest shareholder, as he owns 13.5% of the 2.59 billion shares outstanding as of Jan. 27, according to Meta's 2022 annual report. The next largest shareholder is investment manager BlackRock at 5.9%.
With Meta's stock (META) shooting up $29.16, or 13.9%, to $238.56 on Thursday in the wake of first-quarter results, Zuckerberg's shares were worth $10.22 billion more than they were at Wednesday's close.
Don't miss: Meta steadily rolls out 3-part round of layoffs.
Also read: Mark Zuckerberg's total 2022 pay rose because of the increased use of private aircraft.
And Thursday's stock closing price, Zuckerberg's shares are worth $83.6 billion. His increased wealth moved him up one notch to 12th on the list of the world's richest people, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
As good as Thursday's stock gain was, it was only the second-biggest gain this year. The day after fourth-quarter results were reported, the stock had soared a record $35.65, or 23.3%, on Feb. 2 to add $12.5 billion to Zuckerberg's kitty.
So far this year, Zuckerberg's Meta shares have increased in value by about $41.4 billion, as the stock has soared $118.22, or 98.2%, year to date.
-Tomi Kilgore
This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-28-23 0742ET
Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
