December 17, 2024 – This year, Meta’s stock price has surged ahead, repeatedly hitting new highs, prompting its co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg to sell a significant amount of company shares. According to an analysis by “Fortune” magazine based on publicly disclosed trading data, Zuckerberg has sold Meta stock worth over 2.2billionintotalthisyear.JustinDecemberalone,hehasalreadysoldsharesworth153.2 million. Executive compensation data company Equilar has verified these stock sales and their value.
Driven by new businesses such as artificial intelligence and wearable devices, Meta’s share price has soared 82% this year, peaking at 630,andpushingthecompany′smarketvaluebeyond1 trillion. This places Meta among giants like Apple and Amazon.
Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have publicly pledged to donate most of their wealth during their lifetime. Their philanthropic efforts are primarily channeled through the “Chan Zuckerberg Initiative”, which focuses on funding and investing in scientific research and related areas.
Last year, Zuckerberg sold Meta stock valued at over $400 million. In the previous two years, as he shifted the company’s focus to the metaverse, Meta’s stock price experienced a significant drop, leading Zuckerberg to temporarily halt stock sales. During this period, Facebook’s user base declined for the first time, and changes in Apple’s privacy policies allowed users to opt-out of app tracking, affecting Meta’s advertising revenue.
In 2024, Zuckerberg sold approximately 4.6 million Meta shares, which is roughly four times the amount sold last year, generating cash that is five times last year’s amount. This year, Meta has refocused its strategy on generative artificial intelligence and more practical wearable devices, such as the Meta Ray-Bans smart glasses, and its advertising business has returned to quarterly growth. According to Bloomberg estimates, Zuckerberg’s current personal wealth stands at $223 billion, making him one of the wealthiest individuals globally.
