According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has overtaken Jeff Bezos as the world’s second-richest person
Zuckerberg’s wealth surged by $78 billion in 2024, a rise unmatched by any other member of the index’s 500 richest individuals, thanks to his 13% stake in Meta.
Throughout the year, Wall Street has applauded Meta as the company’s quarterly earnings have consistently exceeded analysts’ expectations.
On Thursday 3rd October 2024, Zuckerberg’s net worth hit $206.2 billion, as per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, surpassing the $205.1 billion fortune of the ex-Amazon CEO and president. The co-founder of Facebook is now approximately $50 billion behind Tesla’s Elon Musk, according to the index.
Bloomberg Billionaires Index as of 3rd October 2024
Bloomberg Billionaires Index as of 3rd October 2024
Fact: Apparently Mark Zuckerberg says he plans to give away 99% of his Facebook shares.
Meta, the parent company of Instagram, has announced that voices of Dame Judi Dench and John Cena will be available as options for its AI chatbot.
Moreover, users can access information through AI representations of celebrities such as Awkwafina, Keegan-Michael Key, and Kristen Bell. Meta is hopeful that this new endeavour with celebrity chatbots will surpass the success of its previous attempts. In September 2023, Meta introduced AI chatbots featuring the ‘personalities’ of celebrities including Kendall Jenner and Snoop Dogg, but the project was terminated within a year.
At Meta’s annual Connect conference, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the new celebrity chatbot project, remarking, ‘Interacting with AI through voice will be more intuitive than through text.‘ The enhanced ChatGPT-style chatbot will also be capable of recognizing objects in images and providing relevant details. Additionally, a novel image editing tool will allow users to alter photos by simply directing the Meta AI with their requests.
Meta has disclosed that its AI now reaches over 400 million people monthly, with 185 million engaging weekly.
Meta’s complimentary artificial intelligence (AI) assistant, known as Meta AI, is being introduced across its social media platforms, including WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger.
The assistant is reportedly designed to respond to queries, craft animations, and produce ‘high-quality’ images, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a recent video posting.
Zuckerberg also noted that the company has integrated ‘real-time knowledge’ from Google and Microsoft’s Bing to enhance the assistant’s responses.
The development of MetaAI is based on the company’s most advanced large language model, Meta Llama 3, which was unveiled on the same day – Thursday 18th April 2024.
Facebook, the social media giant that connects billions of people around the world, celebrated its 20th anniversary on February 4, 2024.
Founded by Mark Zuckerberg and his fellow Harvard students in 2004, Facebook has grown from a college network to a global phenomenon, with over 3 billion monthly users and counting.
Facebook has also changed the way we communicate, share, and connect with each other online, enabling us to keep in touch with friends and family, discover new content and communities, and express ourselves freely.
Controversy
However, Facebook has also faced many controversies and challenges over the years, such as privacy issues, misinformation, child safety, and political scrutiny. Facebook has been accused of violating user data, spreading fake news and hate speech, enabling cyberbullying and online abuse, and influencing elections and public opinion.
How ‘the’ facebook looked 20 years ago
Facebook has also faced competition from other platforms, such as TikTok, Snapchat, and X, as well as regulatory pressure from governments and activists.
Evolving
As Facebook turns 20, it is still evolving and expanding under its parent company Meta, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp. Meta’s vision is to create a metaverse, a virtual reality where people can interact and experience immersive digital worlds. Meta also aims to invest in artificial intelligence, blockchain, and cloud computing, as well as social good initiatives, such as connectivity, education, and health.
Facebook’s future is uncertain, but it is undeniable that it has shaped the history and culture of the internet and the world, for good and bad.
See BIG tech results here as Meta share price gains 20% after positive earnings impress Wall Street.
Mark Zuckerberg is currently the third richest person in the work coming with a wealth of $161 billion. Not a bad income for 20 years’ work.
The metaverse is a hypothetical concept that has not yet been fully realized, but many experts and companies are working on developing it. Mark Zuckerberg is one of these ‘believers’.
Future challenge
The metaverse is quite likely to happen in the future, as technology advances and demand for immersive and interactive online experiences grows. Ai will help develop the metaverse at a greater speed.
However, there are also many challenges and uncertainties that could affect the development and adoption of the metaverse, such as interoperability, privacy, regulation, social issues, and user safety. Therefore, it is hard to predict when and how the metaverse will become a mainstream platform. Some estimates suggest that it could take another 10 to 15 years for the metaverse to reach its full potential.
What does Meta have to say about the Metaverse?
Meta and Mark Zuckerberg think that the metaverse is the next evolution of social technology and the successor to the mobile internet. They believe that the metaverse will enable people to feel present and connected with others in immersive and interactive digital spaces, where they can socialize, learn, work, play, and create. They also think that the metaverse will be a collaborative and open platform, where different companies and creators can build and interoperate with each other.
Product investment
Meta is investing heavily in developing the technologies and tools that will power the metaverse, such as virtual and augmented reality devices, software, and content.
Mark Zuckerberg has shared his vision and enthusiasm for the metaverse in various interviews and events, such as the Protocol interview, Connect 2021 keynote and the Lex Fridman podcast.
He has also demonstrated some of the impressive features and capabilities of the metaverse, such as photorealistic avatars, mixed reality experiences, and NFTs. He has said that he wants Meta to be a social technology company that helps bring the metaverse to life together with the community.
Time will tell if the Metaverse really is the future. So far it has failed to fully establish the following as Facebook enjoyed in its early days.
Mark Zuckerberg and Meta will not give up and will likely make his version of the Metaverse a success, one way or another.
‘Jimi, don’t forget to take the headset off if you go out again!’
