Mark Zuckerberg has passed Elon Musk as the world's third-richest person as Tesla stock hits new lows (2024)

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is officially wealthier than Elon Musk as Tesla’s rapidly dropping stock tanks Musk’s net worth.

Zuckerberg’s net worth has grown by more than $47 billion in 2024 to hit $175 billion as of Wednesday, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index. Musk, on the other hand, has watched his value drop by more than $55 billion to a marginally less $174 billion. The gap between the two men will likely widen on Thursday, as Tesla stock hits a new 52-week low and Meta gains value.

Despite Musk’s sagging net worth — he has been surpassed by both Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault in recent months — he is still one of the top 10 richest men alive. Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer trail behind Musk with $149 billion and $142 billion respective net worths, followed by ex-Google CEO Larry Page.

It’s the second time in less than a month that Zuckerberg has overtaken Musk, who has been sharply critical of his fellow Big Tech CEO. Musk even challenged Zuckerberg to a cage match last summer, before he backed out.

Both of their wealth depends heavily on the success of their companies. Zuckerberg owns about 13% of Meta, while Musk controls — for now — 20.5% of Tesla stock. Musk also leads several other business ventures, including SpaceX and Neuralink.

Tesla stock has fallen about 39% so far in 2024, making Tesla one of the worst performersin the S&P 500. Tesla’s market capitalization has dropped to about $475 billion. Except for a brief decline earlier this week, Tesla last fell below $500 billion at its previous 52-week low in April 2023.

The company’s value has been driven down by sweeping layoffs and the resignations of two top-leaders, poor first-quarter sales, and changes in strategy related to a long-promised affordable electric car in favor of a self-driving robotaxi.

Meanwhile, Meta has been thriving since it reported solid fourth-quarter earnings in February and announced its first-ever quarterly dividend. The stock is up 3% Thursday and almost 47% year-to-date at about $509 per share.

Analysts from UBS recently upped their 12-month price target for Meta stock to $610 per share from $530 per share. Analysts from Piper Sandler last week upped their price target to $600 per share from $525 per share.

“Refocusing where they’re allocating their capital has been tremendous,” Motley Fool Asset Management analyst Shelby McFaddin told Quartz earlier this month, noting that Meta has been capitalizing heavily on advertisem*nts and short-form content on Instagram and Facebook.