A surge in Meta Platforms shares on Thursday sent founder Mark Zuckerberg's fortune soaring by $12.4 billion to $67.6 billion.
This is the biggest daily gain Zuckerberg has recorded since Facebook (now Meta) listed in May 2012.
As previously reported, Meta posted a better-than-expected earnings report in the fourth quarter of 2022 that drove the company's shares up more than 20%.
Zuckerberg is now ranked 16th richest globally, up from 22nd place a day ago, according to the Forbes list.
He had been among the top 10 richest in the world for 7 years, but was knocked out last September following a decline in Meta's stock due to a decline in advertising revenue amid its competition with Tiktok and a slowdown in the technology sector as a whole.
Thursday's gains certainly eased some of his worries after going through a difficult 2022.
Its latest report in the fourth quarter was not very encouraging, where Meta reported a decrease in revenue of around 4% in the fourth quarter compared to the period a year ago.
Still, it was well ahead of analysts who had expected a 6.5% revenue decline and was enough to drive the company's stock higher, in addition to the announcement of a $40 billion increase in its share buybacks.
Although its shares jumped more than 20% on Thursday, the company is still 51% lower than the peak it reached in September 2021.
