Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth has hit a new milestone.
After Facebook released a strong second-quarter earnings report on Wednesday, the company’s stock shot up 6% early Thursday to reach a record high. And while this would be good news under any circumstances, the jump also helped Facebook’s CEO reach a significant personal milestone.
Zuckerberg’s net worth hit $72.7 billion on Thursday, according to Forbes’ real-time rankings of the world’s billionaires. This increase of more than $3 billion sent him past Mexico’s Carlos Slim to become the world’s fifth-richest person.
Zuckerberg’s wealth is largely tied up in Facebook stock, meaning it rises and falls along with the company’s shares. Facebook, the world’s biggest social network, has been on a tear as of late. The company’s shares have risen more than 50% since the start of this year. Zuckerberg announced last month the company had reached 2 billion monthly users across the globe.
But Zuckerberg wasn’t the only billionaire making waves this week. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos also saw his fortune rise on Thursday, passing Bill Gates to become the richest person in the world before Amazon’s earnings report dropped Thursday afternoon.
