Mark Zuckerberg is doing okay.
The Chief Executive Officer of Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) saw his net worth surpass $100 billion U.S. for the first time after Facebook’s stock price hit a record on optimism about the release of the company’s TikTok competitor "Reels."
The 36-year-old joins fellow tech titans Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates as the only people in the world who currently have "centibillionaire" status, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Zuckerberg’s net worth is largely derived from his 13% stake in Facebook stock.
The founders of America’s largest technology companies have enjoyed a mind-boggling accumulation of wealth this year as the COVID-19 pandemic drives more people online, despite the U.S. economy contracting at its fastest pace on record. Zuckerberg has gained about $22 billion U.S. this year, while Bezos is up more than $75 billion U.S.
The five largest American technology companies -- Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Facebook and Microsoft Corp.(NASDAQ:MSFT) -- have market valuations equivalent to about 30% of U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP), nearly double what they were at the end of 2018.
Zuckerberg, who founded the social media giant from his Harvard University dorm room in 2004, has said he plans to give away 99% of his Facebook shares over his lifetime.
