Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth ballooned by $26.7 billion on Thursday, marking one of the largest single-day gains ever recorded by a tech executive.
The networth rise followed Meta Platforms’ blockbuster second-quarter earnings, which propelled the company’s stock to an all-time high.
The Meta co-founder and chief executive is now worth $266.7 billion, according to Forbes’ real-time tracker, securing him the No. 3 spot among the world’s richest individuals.
Zuckerberg, who owns about 13% of Meta’s shares, saw his net worth rise more than 11% in just one day.
Meta reported $47.52 billion in revenue for the quarter ending in June, a 22 percent year-over-year increase that handily beat Wall Street expectations.
Earnings per share reached $7.14, well above analyst projections. Daily active users climbed to 3.48 billion across Meta’s family of apps, signaling robust engagement even amid intensifying competition from rivals such as TikTok.
A little context into earning reports
On a call with analysts, Zuckerberg attributed the performance to Meta’s growing reliance on artificial intelligence.
“AI allowed us to drive more advertising revenue and deliver better experiences across our platforms,” he said.
“Nicola Mendelsohn, Meta’s head of global business, echoed the sentiment in a LinkedIn post, describing AI as the catalyst for “greater efficiency and gains across our ads system.”
Meta also boosted its third-quarter revenue outlook to between $49.5 billion and $50.5 billion. The company raised its full-year capital expenditures forecast to $72 billion, underscoring its commitment to AI and metaverse initiatives.
A surprising bright spot came from hardware. The company’s Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, developed in partnership with eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica, have sold more than 2 million pairs since their October 2023 launch.
The frames let users take photos, make calls, and interact with Meta AI.
EssilorLuxottica reported that sales of the glasses more than tripled in the first half of 2025 compared with the same period last year. Building on that success, Meta rolled out a new model with Oakley in July.
What you should know about Zuckerberg
Zuckerberg, who famously started Facebook in 2004 as a college networking site, has spent the past two decades expanding it into a tech empire encompassing Instagram, WhatsApp, and virtual reality.
The company rebranded as Meta in 2021, a shift meant to emphasize its ambitions in virtual and augmented reality.
Despite his deep pocket wealth, Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have pledged to give away 99% of their Meta holdings during their lifetimes.
For now, though, his fortune continues to grow fueled by a record-breaking quarter that reaffirmed Meta’s position as one of the world’s most powerful technology companies.
