The value of Mark Zuckerberg’s stake in Facebook has plunged by $3bn, after a warning of slowing advertising growth sent the social media company’s share price tumbling.
The Facebook co-founder’s personal wealth has been reduced by 6%, the biggest loss ever suffered by an individual shareholder, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which ranks him as the world’s fifth richest person with a $52bn fortune.
Facebook almost tripled its profits in the third quarter after taking a larger slice of the online advertising market. The company reported a 59% year-on-year increase in advertising revenues late on Wednesday.
However, investors were concerned by a comment from Facebook’s chief financial officer, Dave Wehner, that ad revenue growth would slow “meaningfully”. The company also said it would push on with “aggressive” investments in hiring technology staff.
The comments overshadowed the strong results and pushed down Facebook shares by more than 5% on Thursday.
Zuckerberg, the chief executive, had said in a statement: “We had another good quarter. We’re making progress putting video first across our apps and executing our 10-year technology roadmap.”
In September, Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, pledged to invest $3bn of their personal fortune over the next 10 years with the not insignificant goal of tackling all diseases.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will focus on some of the world’s biggest health problems, including heart disease, cancer, infectious diseases and neurological conditions.
