Facebook's catastrophic year means Mark Zuckerberg lost more money than any of the world's 500 richest billionaires
- Mark Zuckerberg's net worth took a major hit this year after scandals plagued Facebook.
- Zuckerberg's wealth took its biggest nose-dive after Facebook's disastrous Q2 earnings were announced in July.
- Time magazine's Money reports that he is set to lose the most money out of any of the world's 500 richest people in 2018.
A disastrous year for Facebook has left a major dent in the wealth of CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg, who has lost billions in net worth since the beginning of 2018.
Zuckerberg began the year with about $75 billion in his pocket, but according to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index, he was worth about $56 billion on December 17. That's a $19 billion drop.
Zuckerberg owns a 13% stake in Facebook, which this year has been beset by crises including the Cambridge Analytica scandal, accusations of mismanagement, a shareholder revolt, and questions over inappropriate content.
On July 25, Facebook's stock price plummeted more than 20% after it revealed disappointing Q2 earnings. This is reflected in the sharp drop in Zuckerberg's net worth.
At its lowest point on November 24, Zuckerberg's net worth was roughly $52 billion. Since then, Facebook's share price has recovered slightly, meaning that Time magazine's Money predicts that he is set to lose about $15 billion this year.
The publication said that if this comes to pass, Zuckerberg will have lost more money in 2018 than any of the world's 500 richest billionaires. This includes the likes of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who has also had billions wiped off his net worth in recent weeks as part of a wider downturn in tech stocks.