Last year, Mark Zuckerberg was fully committed to the metaverse and was willing to spend whatever it took to dominate virtual reality. However, this came at a cost. At one point, his wealth fell by more than US$100 billion from its high, a significant decline for the millennial who was once the world’s third-richest person.
This year, Zuckerberg has shifted his focus to the physical world. He began by implementing cost-cutting measures at Meta Platforms and is now working on developing a real-life competitor to Elon Musk’s Twitter.
Zuckerberg’s fortune, which is comprised largely of his Meta stake, has grown by about $44-billion this year
Zuckerberg’s efforts appear to be paying off. His fortune, largely comprised of his stake in Meta, has grown by about $44 billion this year, the most of anyone tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Despite Meta shares closing down slightly on Friday in New York, Zuckerberg’s pivot towards efficiency has made the stock the second-best performer this year on the S&P 500. It has soared more than 100%, pushing its net worth to $89.9 billion.
On Friday, news emerged that Meta’s Instagram platform is planning to launch a competitor to Twitter as early as next month. The text-based app is currently being tested with celebrities and influencers, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Mandeep Singh and Damian Reimertz believe Meta has a better chance of taking market share from Twitter than its smaller peers.
Is Twitter facing a new threat?
According to Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Mandeep Singh and Damian Reimertz, Meta may face challenges in attracting Twitter users to its platform. However, they believe that Meta could pose a threat to Twitter, whose engagement may have been hurt by charging its heavy users a monthly subscription fee.
Loop Capital Markets analysts Rob Sanderson and Alan Gould also have a positive outlook for Meta’s revenue. In a note dated 15 May, they set a target of $320/share, compared to Friday’s closing price of $245.64.