Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg lost $7.2 billion after several companies stopped advertising on the social media platform.
According to reports, the shares of the company fell 8.3% yesterday, the biggest dip in three months after Unilever joined other brands in boycotting ads on the social network. Unilever which happens to one of the world’s largest advertisers said it would stop spending money with Facebook’s properties this year.
According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the share-price drop eliminated $56 billion from Facebook’s market value and pushed Zuckerberg’s net worth down to $82.3 billion. The Facebook chief also dropped one place to fourth in the list of the world’s richest people. He has since been overtaken by Louis Vuitton boss Bernard Arnault, who was elevated to one of the world’s three richest people along with Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.
Companies from Verizon Communications Inc. to Hershey Co. have also stopped social media ads after critics said that Facebook has failed to sufficiently police hate speech and disinformation on the platform. Coca Cola said it would pause all paid advertising on all social media platforms for at least 30 days.
In response to the growing criticism about misinformation on the platform, Zuckerberg on Friday announced that the company would label all voting-related posts with a link encouraging users to look at its new voter information hub. Facebook also expanded its definition of prohibited hate speech, adding a clause saying no adverts will be allowed if they label another demographic as dangerous.
He said, “There are no exceptions for politicians in any of the policies I’m announcing here today.”
