Zuckerberg is now richer than Warren Buffet

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, has surpassed Warren Buffet also known as the “Oracle of Omaha” as the World’s third richest man with a net worth of $81.4 billion, around $ 373 Million more than Buffet. He is now the third richest tech founder in the world. The chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway was left behind by Zuckerberg as Facebook shares rose by 2.4 percent, according to the calculations of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His rise to the third position can be attributed to Facebook’s successful waiver of the allegations on data-privacy crisis resulting into a total gain of $8.8 billion this year.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The Nebraska-based company of Buffett wholly owns many companies such as Geico, Clayton Homes and Dairy Queen, Helzberg Diamonds, BNSF Railway, FlightSafety International, NetJets, and also owns 38.6% of Pilot Flying.  The company also owns shares of Coca-Cola and American Express.

Facebook – the social networking giant

Presently, the top three richest people in the world hail from the technology sector and make up for around 1$ trillion in wealth as tracked by the Bloomberg Index which is more than any other sector. Tech stocks have seen quite a rise in the current year of 2018. Netflix stock has increased by more than double, Amazon has risen to 46 percent, Apple stocks have seen a rise of 11 percent, and Google has increased to 9 percent in 2018. Facebook is one of the top three billionaire tech company and was started in the year 2004. It was initially named as Face smash and was accessible to Harvard students only. Later in 2006, its accessibility was expanded to other universities and high school students. Anyone above the age of 13 could make an account on Facebook. In 2012, Facebook decided to do its first IPO. Since then, it has been connecting millions of people across the world.

Most of the revenue of Facebook is generated through advertising. There are almost six million active advertisers on Facebook. It has a lower click-through rate (CTR) because most of its users are youngsters who use ad-blocking software leading to lower revenue from CTR.  Recently, Facebook has faced allegations regarding infringing the privacy of its users by selling the information to third parties, yet, the social networking giant stands to earn remarkable profits during the first quarter of the current year 2018 because it was able to get rid of the allegations imposed on it.

Philanthropic measures

As per the updated calculation of April 2018, Zuckerberg’s wealth recorded an increase of $1 billion because he had granted fewer shares as previously calculated by Bloomberg. He also plans to make 99 percent of his Facebook shares public during his lifespan.  Buffett’s slip to the fourth position is attributed to his charitable practices. He has donated as much as $290 million worth of Berkshire Hathaway class B shares to charities. He has always been well-known for his charitable giving and has made donations of worth $30.9billion since 2006 out of which $24 billion has been given to Bill Gate’s foundation.

The Calculation

Bloomberg calculates the net worth of a person by taking into account the dividend income paid and proceeds from the sale of public and closely held shares. It ensures the calculation to be as transparent as possible. It does not include the value of assets which are unverified in its calculation. The rankings of the billionaires are revised on a daily basis.

With the volatility faced by the stock prices in the technology sector, it will be interesting to watch who climbs up or slips down the ladder in future.

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