Bad day on the stock market? Chances are it doesn’t compare to the losses Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is experiencing as the social media giant’s shares plunge in the aftermath of the company’s second-quarter earnings report.
Facebook topped second-quarter earnings expectations on Thursday while revenue fell short. The company noted that the cost of investing heavily in security and privacy would hurt profitability in the coming quarters.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | %Chg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FB | FACEBOOK INC. | 178.04 | -39.46 | -18.14% |
Facebook’s shares promptly crashed, in the aftermath of the company’s second-quarter earnings report with shares falling as much as 20%.
The losses shaved about $100 billion off of the social media giant’s market cap, and this also hit founder Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth. Zuckerberg owns 387,095,123 Facebook shares (Class A and B shares combined), according to FactSet.
Assuming the fall from $216 per share down to $176.90 per share – this would shave $15.1 billion off of Zuckerberg’s net worth.
According to Forbes 2018 billionaire list, Mark Zuckerberg was the fifth wealthiest American in 2018 – with $71 billion net worth. Considering the losses he is suffering on Thursday – his net worth could be down to $55.9 billion. This would remove Zuckerberg from the top 10 of the list – putting him down to the 11th spot behind Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
Facebook made $1.74 per share in the second quarter, versus analysts’ consensus estimate for $1.72. Revenue fell short of expectations, coming in at $13.23 billion versus the $13.36 billion analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting.
Zuckerberg said on Wednesday the company “will continue to invest heavily in security and privacy,” adding that the associated cost would likely hurt profitability in upcoming quarters.
Expenses will rise by 50% to 60% this year as Facebook invests in data security, new technology and other initiatives, CFO David Wehner said.
Facebook has faced scrutiny since reports surfaced that British data firm Cambridge Analytica had improperly accessed the personal data of up to 87 million users. While the company’s shares fell initially in the aftermath of the data scandal, they regrouped. But on Thursday, it seems the social media giant is paying for the scandal, in one fell swoop.
