Mark Zuckerberg sells $200 million worth of Meta shares, as Meta becomes the ninth largest asset in the world by market value.
Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg sold shares for the first time in two years, selling over $200 million worth of Meta stock since November. Zuckerberg still holds approximately 13% of Meta's shares, a significant portion of his $117.7 billion wealth. He and his wife Priscilla Chan had previously pledged to donate 99% of their wealth to charitable causes during their lifetime.
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Mark Zuckerberg Sells Over $200 Million in Stocks
According to SEC filings, Mark Zuckerberg sold stocks for the first time in two years, selling almost daily in November, offloading a total of 616,198 shares of Meta stock, worth over $200 million. The filings in December revealed a sale on 12/4 of an additional 28,009 shares, estimated at $8.89 million. The stocks originated from his 2004 founder's shares and 2013 stock options exercise, valued at $8.89 million.
Meta's stock price, after experiencing lows last year in the metaverse, has benefited this year from ad revenue returning and the outlook for AI development. Bouncing back from a low of $88, it has surged by 160% year-to-date, making it one of the G7 tech giants driving the major gains in the U.S. stock market this year. It currently ranks as the ninth largest asset by market value globally, with gold at the top, followed by Apple, and Bitcoin, which has recently risen to tenth. The high of $384 from 2021 no longer seems far off.
Zuckerberg Still Holds 13% of Shares, Pledges 99% of Wealth to Charity
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the 39-year-old Mark Zuckerberg still owns approximately 13% of Meta, a significant part of his $117.7 billion wealth. Zuckerberg and his 38-year-old wife, Priscilla Chan, had previously pledged to donate 99% of their wealth to charitable causes in their lifetime, such as promoting equality and disease treatment. Over half of the recent Meta stock sales came from shares controlled by their eponymous foundation.
The $19 million frenzy from this latest sell-off flowed into their advocacy arm, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which funds efforts to mobilize voters and push for immigration reform.
The foundation in Palo Alto, established in 2015, currently has a net worth of around $6.3 billion.