Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, lost $29 billion in his net worth, on Thursday, with the share of Facebook’s owner, Meta, hitting a record low in one day.
Meta’s stock plunged more than 26%, wiping out more than $237 billion in the largest-ever drop in a company’s market value in a single day.
The decline reduced Zuckerberg’s net worth to $85 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
Zuckerberg owns about 12.8% of the shares of the technology giant, formerly known as “Facebook”.
After wiping out $29 billion from his fortune, Zuckerberg ranked 12th on the Forbes list of billionaires, behind Indian business magnates Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani.
‘Meta’ shares drop
“Meta” lost more than $237 billion of its market value during Thursday’s session, which represents the largest drop in market value in a single day in the history of the US stock market.
The decline in “Meta” shares came in the wake of the release of the quarterly business results, which showed that the net profit amounted to 10.285 billion dollars in the fourth quarter of last year, compared to 11.219 billion dollars in the comparable period a year ago.
Earnings per share amounted to $3.67 during the period between October and December last year, which was lower than expectations of $3.84.
Zuckerberg, the CEO of the company, announced that “Meta” incurred a net loss of $ 10 billion in 2021, and attributed this to its investments in “Metaverse”.
The one-day collapse of Meta Platform ranks as the worst in the history of the stock market.
Shares of Facebook’s parent company fell 26% Thursday on the back of sad earnings results, wiping out about $251.3 billion from its market value.
This is the largest market value survey of any US company ever.
And while the stock could certainly bounce back in the coming days, especially given the volatility that has dominated the tech sector this year, the mood on Wall Street has certainly turned bleak in the market for a long time.
Analysts point to the stiff competition Meta now faces from competitors and the fact that revenue has been below expectations as reasons for concern.
Michael Nathanson, an analyst at brokerage Moffett Nathanson, wrote his note, “Facebook: The Beginning of the End?”.
“These cuts are deep,” he wrote. The results were “attractive and not in a good way.”
The sheer scale of Facebook’s collapse illustrates how tech companies have swelled to become giants with unprecedented market power, and the drama that can occur when they falter.
Lots of American giants are priced as growth stocks.
“They may struggle more in a high-return environment, especially if growth comes into question,” said Frederic Rollin, senior investment advisor at Pictet Asset Management.
