Mark Zuckerberg: what is Facebook CEO’s net worth - and how much he lost over whistleblower claims and outage

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is never far from the headlines.

The internet entrepreneur is one of the richest people in the world but even he would have felt the pinch of the recent whistleblower claims and Facebook outage.

Zuckerberg has since responded to Frances Haugen’s testimony to US senators of Facebook putting profit over people’s safety by stating the accusations are "just not true".

Yet he could do nothing to stop Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp all from crashing on Monday night (UK time) due to an internet protocol error which took hours to fix.

Both occurred within a whirlwind 24 hours for Zuckerberg who saw his personal wealth take a hit on the stock markets - here’s all you need to know about the Facebook founder and his riches.

Who is Mark Zuckerberg?

Mark Zuckerberg is the founder and chief executive officer of Facebook.

Zuckerberg planted the seeds of a social media empire from his Harvard dorm room while studying psychology and computer science at university.

By this stage he was already a promising software developer and programmer having been encouraged by his father, Edward, a New York dentist.

Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard in his sophomore year to concentrate on Facebook after its launch as a social media platform but was later awarded an honorary degree.

It was at Harvard that Zuckerberg met his now wife Priscilla Chan. The two wed in May 2012 and have two daughters, Maxima and August, together.

How old is Mark Zuckerberg?

Mark Zuckerberg was born on 14 May 1984 and grew up in White Plains, in New York, USA. At the time of writing he is 37 years old.

How much is Mark Zuckerberg worth?

Mark Zuckerberg is one of the richest people in the world.

Forbes magazine listed Zuckerberg as the fifth richest person in the world in its 2021 rich list, with an estimated net worth of $97 billion (£71.5bn).

This net worth is a record high for Zuckerberg who is up after two years of decline, from $71bn in 2018 to $54.7bn in 2020 before the start of the Covid pandemic.

Many people, restricted in their movements by various government policies around the world, flocked to social media platforms to communicate with one another.

How much did Mark Zuckerberg lose over whistleblower and Facebook outage?

The outage meant the 3.5 billion monthly active users who have signed up to Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp were unable to use the social media platforms.

This was reflected in Facebook Inc.’s share price which tumbled 4.9% on Monday, adding to a drop of about 15% since mid-September.

It meant Mark Zuckerberg lost around $6 billion (£4.42bn) from his personal fortune, moving him down one place on the live Forbes rich list.

Who is the richest person in the world?

According to the Forbes 2021 rich list, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the richest person in the world with a net worth of $177 billion (£130.35bn).

Tesla founder Elon Musk is close behind with a net worth of $151bn (£111.20bn), followed by Bernard Arnault and family $150bn (£110.47bn).

Microsoft’s Bill Gates is ranked fourth richest person in the world on the Forbes 2021 rich list with a net worth of $124bn (£91.32bn), ahead of Mark Zuckerberg in fifth.

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