Mark Zuckerberg's Net Worth Plunged By $71 Billion This Year: Here's Why

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies remotely via videoconference in this screengrab made from video during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled, "Breaking the News: Censorship, Suppression, and the 2020 Election,? on Facebook and Twitter's content moderation practices, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U. Reuters / Handout .

KEY POINTS

Mark Zuckerberg owns nearly 13% of Meta
He first became a billionaire at the age of 23
Meta's stock has reportedly lost about 60% of its value

Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg has dropped to his lowest spot on world billionaires lists since 2014 after his fortune got cut in half.

Zuckerberg is currently ranked 20th among all the global billionaires, as per Bloomberg, which valued him at $54.6 billion. The tech leader, who was once the third richest person in the world, slipped to No. 22 on Forbes' billionaires' list. The outlet reported his net worth to be $52.8 billion.

Zuckerberg's net worth started dropping earlier this year following the record-breaking plunge of Meta shares, which hold the bulk of his fortune. Since Facebook became Meta nearly a year ago, its stock reportedly lost about 60% of its value.

Other tech billionaires also suffered losses this year. But Zuckerberg was the biggest loser, as per CBS News. The outlet reported that "not even crypto CEO Changpeng Zhao has seen a wipeout on the scale of Zuckerberg."

Bloomberg reported that Zuckerberg lost a massive $71 billion this year.

Earlier, Zuckerberg said Meta was battling rivals, including TikTok. Other issues that impacted the firm included a signal loss from Apple's iOS changes, the slowing of e-commerce growth and the war in Ukraine.

Last year, Meta divided its business into two categories: Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The former includes Facebook, Instagram and Messenger, while the latter is focused on building the social media platform of the future.

"Over the next several years our goal from a financial perspective is to generate sufficient operating income growth from Family of Apps to fund the growth of investment in Reality Labs while still growing our overall profitability," Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post earlier this year.

Meta reportedly plans to use three main investment priorities to drive growth: Reels, ads and the metaverse.

Zuckerberg, who owns nearly 13% of Meta, first became a billionaire at the age of 23.

As to how he spends his wealth, Zuckerberg has in his investment portfolio millions worth of properties in California and Hawaii.

Zuckerberg also puts millions of dollars into the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, an organization he founded with his wife, Priscilla Chan.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative received $18 billion in funding to focus on "personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities."

In December 2015, Zuckerberg and his wife pledged to give away 99% of their Meta stake over their lifetimes.