Tech Tycoons Have Had a Rough Year. None Like Zuckerberg

Don't worry, Mark Zuckerberg is still a billionaire—but he's lost many, many of those billions over the past several months. In what Bloomberg describes as a rough year for most tech billionaires, it's been an especially bumpy one for the Meta CEO: He's lost $71 billion or so since Jan. 1, more than half of his net worth. The 38-year-old's $55.9 billion fortune as of Friday has now dropped him to No. 2 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his lowest ranking in eight years. Exactly a year ago, Zuckerberg was worth a high of $142 billion, when the company then known as Facebook boasted shares stretching as high as $382 (on Monday, prices hovered at around $146).

Then in October came the pivot from Facebook to Meta, "and it's been largely downhill from there," notes Bloomberg. The outlet notes that Meta's troubles have stemmed from its wading into the metaverse pool, as well as such issues as Instagram's tepid results with its Reels video platform, lower marketing spending overall in the industry, and troubles with its main platform: In February, Zuckerberg lost $31 billion in one day when it was announced that it had seen no growth in monthly Facebook users and stock prices plummeted. Some people are pointing the finger at Zuckerberg himself as the source of Meta's woes.

"I think Facebook is not going to do well as long as he's there," Bill George, a senior fellow at Harvard Business School, told CNBC last week, noting that Zuckerberg's leadership failings are helping to "derail" the company. "He's really lost his way." (More on George's reasoning here.) The Robb Report notes that Zuckerberg has some company in his billionaire woes: He can commiserate with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who's said goodbye to $46 billion since the beginning of the year, and Google co-founder Larry Page, who's lost $34 billion. The world's richest man, meanwhile, has lost comparatively little compared to his fellow tech magnates. Elon Musk saw his fortune drop just $6 billion, keeping him safe in the No. 1 spot on Bloomberg's list. (More Mark Zuckerberg stories.)