Zuckerberg vaults to No.5 in wealth ranking as Facebook surges

Zuckerberg vaults to No.5 in wealth ranking as Facebook surges

Shares of Facebook surged 11% to US$166.69, the biggest 1-day gain in 3 years.

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer and founder of Facebook, waits to begin a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committees in Washington, DC. (Bloomberg pic)
LONDON:
Mark Zuckerberg added US$6.2 billion to his net worth Thursday, jumping two places to No.5 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, after his Facebook posted revenue that beat Wall Street estimates, sending its shares soaring.

Zuckerberg, Facebook’s 34-year-old co-founder, vaulted over Amancio Ortega of Spain and Mexico’s Carlos Slim, who are now ranked sixth and seventh, respectively, on the list of the world’s 500 richest people.

Shares of Menlo Park, California-based Facebook surged 11% to US$166.69, the biggest one-day gain in three years, boosting Zuckerberg’s fortune to US$65.6 billion.

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos added US$3.8 billion on the day and remains the planet’s wealthiest person with a US$142.1 billion fortune, ahead of No.2 Bill Gates, with US$95.8 billion.

Bezos overtook the Microsoft co-founder for the top spot 15 months ago.

Only four of the 174 Americans on the Bloomberg ranking saw their fortunes decline in January as US markets rallied from a late-December slump.

The S&P 500 Index surged 7.9% for the month, its best in more than three years. The world’s 500 richest people added a total of US$308 billion to their wealth in January as global markets also gained.

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