Mark Zuckerberg overtakes Elon Musk as the third richest person in the world, as their companies’ shares move in opposite directions

• Mark Zuckerberg has overtaken Elon Musk as the third richest person in the world, with a fortune of $175 billion.

• According to Bloomberg data, Zuckerberg has gained $47 billion in wealth this year, while Musk has lost $55 billion.

• The wealth shift has been caused by shares of Meta Platforms soaring and shares of Tesla falling.

A near mirror image in share price performance has helped catapult Mark Zuckerberg ahead of Elon Musk as the third-richest person in the world, according to data from Bloomberg.

Mark Zuckerberg had a net worth of $175 billion as of Wednesday, just slightly overtaking Musk’s net worth of $174 billion. That gap will widen on Thursday as stocks rise Tesla falls to a new 52-week low as Meta Platforms shares seek record highs.

So far, Zuckerberg has added $47.3 billion to his net worth, while Musk has seen his net worth drop by $55.2 billion. That decline has dropped Musk from the status of the world’s richest person to the fourth richest person in the world.

Musk is ahead of Bill Gates’ $149 billion fortune, while Zuckerberg is behind Jeff Bezos’ $203 billion fortune and Bernard Arnault’s $221 billion net worth.

The driving force behind the shift in fortunes for Musk and Zuckerberg is the performance of their respective stocks. Meta Platforms is up 43% this year, while Tesla shares are down almost 40%.

Sturdy fourth quarter profit results, a newly initiated dividend, and growing investor enthusiasm for the impact artificial intelligence is having on Meta Platforms’ underlying business are in stark contrast to Tesla’s slowing sales growth, declining profit margins, and “thesis-changing” robotaxi pivot at Tesla.

Zuckerberg’s source of wealth is extremely concentrated in Meta Platforms stock. The Facebook co-founder owns about 13% of the social media company. That’s in contrast to Musk, who has many business ventures driving his fortune, including Tesla, SpaceX and X.

Musk and Zuckerberg have been at odds in the past, culminating in both agreed to fight in a cage match last year. The fight never took place.

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