Online Reporter
MARK ZUCKERBERG fell to fifth place on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index — the lowest in nearly two years — as investors spooked by Meta Platforms planned US$30 billion debt sale sent the company’s shares spiralling amid a flurry of tech earnings shaking up the ranks of the world’s richest.
Meta’s stock fell by 11 percent — the most since 2022 — after the company said it was going to issue the biggest investment-grade bond offering of the year to boost spending on artificial intelligence (AI) research, dropping Zuckerberg’s net worth to US$235,2 billion, according to the wealth index.
He was leapfrogged by Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos and Alphabet Inc’s Larry Page, who had not been among the four-richest people since October 2023.
Alphabet’s shares climbed 2,5 percent after it reported revenue that beat analysts’ expectations amid a surge in demand for its cloud and AI services.
Zuckerberg’s US$29,2 billion drop was the fourth-largest one-day market-driven decline ever recorded by Bloomberg’s wealth index.
Meta’s stock had gained 28 percent this year before Thursday’s swoon, adding US$57 billion to Zuckerberg’s fortune.
But doubts over Meta’s ballooning AI budget gave investors pause, with at least two analysts downgrading the company’s shares after it said it expected to spend up to US$118 billion in capital expenditures this year and possibly more in 2026.
Amazon shares have gained more than 30 percent since a mid-April low.
Investors have cheered its cloud-computing unit, which has steadily grown as it has signed splashy deals with AI firms including Anthropic.
The company reported third-quarter sales and profit that topped estimates, sending shares surging in after-hours trading. — Bloomberg
Tinaye Agere