Zuckerberg becomes world’s 3rd centibillionaire

On Thursday, Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg officially joined the so-called Centibillionaire Club — the gang of three people who have a net worth of more than $100 billion, TopNaija reports.

The 36-year-old joins fellow tech titans like Amazon chief Jeff Bezos and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as the only people in the world who currently have centibillionaire status, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Zuckerberg’s fortune is largely derived from his 13 per cent stake in Facebook.

The founders of America’s largest technology companies have enjoyed a mind-boggling accumulation of wealth this year as the conronavirus pandemic drives more people online, despite the US economy contracting at its fastest pace on record. Zuckerberg has gained about US$22 billion this year, while Bezos is up more than US$75 billion.

The BBC reports that Zuckerberg was pushed into the cash stratosphere when Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, launched a TikTok competitor, sending Facebook’s share price up by more than 6 percent. Zuck owns 13 percent of the company.

It’s beyond the wildest dreams of even his early mentor, Sean Parker. In a memorable scene from “The Social Network” — the 2010 movie about the founding of Facebook — Parker, played by Justin Timberlake, warns Zuckerberg not to sell the company for $1 million: “A million dollars isn’t that cool. You know what’s cool? A billion dollars.”

Zuckerberg previously said in 2015 that he would give away 99 percent of what he makes from his Facebook stake. In June, Zuckerberg announced that his company would pledge $10 million toward “ending racial injustice.”

Facebook — which owns Instagram and WhatsApp platforms, among other sites — announced the donation alongside a hashtag called #ShareBlackStories, which encouraged users to “raise voices” that make a “lasting impact.”