Mark Zuckerberg Loses $8.9 Billion as Meta Shares Slide

Mark Zuckerberg’s estimated fortune fell by $8.9 billion on Friday as Meta Platforms shares reversed course after a strong gain the previous day. The decline came as investors reacted to concerns from Goldman Sachs about whether major artificial intelligence hyperscalers can generate enough revenue to support the enormous sums being spent on AI infrastructure.

Zuckerberg’s net worth dropped to an estimated $257.5 billion as of 2:30 p.m. ET, according to the figures cited in the source article. Meta shares fell about 4% to $749.26 on Friday. Zuckerberg owns approximately 13% of Meta, meaning the stock’s movement had a significant impact on his wealth.

The decline also changed Zuckerberg’s position among the world’s wealthiest people. After finishing Thursday at No. 4, he dropped to No. 6, behind Sergey Brin, whose fortune was estimated at $259.9 billion, and Michael Dell, at $275.9 billion.

Zuckerberg’s $8.9 billion decline was the largest single-day drop recorded on the Real-Time Billionaires list Friday. The next-largest decrease belonged to Larry Ellison, whose fortune fell by approximately $1.6 billion.

The selloff followed a warning from Goldman Sachs concerning the enormous capital requirements of AI hyperscalers. The investment bank said companies including Meta would need to generate around $300 billion in annual AI services revenue simply to break even on their capital spending. It estimated that approximately $1 trillion in yearly revenue would be required for the companies to produce meaningful profits.

Meta had enjoyed a strong September before Friday’s reversal. Its shares had climbed about 36% during the month, helped by the launch of Muse, the company’s personal AI assistant. Muse reportedly reached 2.8 million downloads within its first two weeks, according to Sensor Tower, and rose to the top of Apple and Google’s app stores.

The rapid adoption of Muse had prompted some investors and industry observers to reassess Meta’s position in the AI market. Rob Biederman, co-founder and managing partner at Asymmetric Capital Partners, said, “It’s logical that AI agents will become the front door to the internet for a lot of people, which puts the balance of power in Meta’s favour.”

Goldman Sachs’ Friday note offered a more cautious perspective, highlighting the scale of AI infrastructure spending among major hyperscalers. The firms specifically identified in the note included Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Oracle.

Meta also came within less than 1% of reaching a $2 trillion market capitalization on Thursday. Reaching that level would place the company among a small group of technology giants, including Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia and Alphabet, that have reached the milestone.

While Zuckerberg’s fortune declined, Michael Dell recorded a sharp increase in wealth on Friday. The Dell Technologies founder added more than $10 billion to his net worth, making him the day’s biggest gainer and moving him ahead of Zuckerberg and Google co-founder Sergey Brin in the billionaire rankings.