Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg averted a cage match with Elon Musk however obtained a jab in anyway by passing him on the billionaires record

Zuckerberg is now the third richest individual on this planet with a internet value of $171 billion, leaping above No. 4 Musk, who has a internet value of $168 billion, based on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The Meta CEO has gotten tens of billions of {dollars} richer for the reason that begin of the yr, based on Bloomberg, partly due to the stellar efficiency of Meta’s shares.

Though his official wage for a decade has remained regular at $1, Zuckerberg is Meta’s largest and controlling shareholder, with greater than 350 million shares, based on the corporate’s most up-to-date proxy assertion. Meta’s shares have skyrocketed about 40% since January, giving Zuckerberg paper good points of about $49 billion on the shares he owns or controls. 

In the meantime, one among Musk’s foremost sources of wealth, Tesla inventory, is struggling. Shares have plummeted 43% for the reason that begin of the yr, making it the worst performing firm within the S&P 500. Musk owns simply over 715 million Tesla shares, based on the corporate’s most up-to-date proxy assertion, and their worth dropped by $76 billion since January.

Tesla’s lackluster inventory efficiency comes after the corporate reported its first year-over-year sales decline for the reason that pandemic earlier this month. Over the weekend, the corporate additionally reduce the value of a number of automobiles together with its Full Self-Driving software. 

Even notable Tesla bulls have not too long ago forged doubt on the corporate’s route and predict solutions from Musk on Tuesday’s earnings call. 

However whereas Musk’s flagship firm backslides, he’s nonetheless making an attempt to safe a $45 billion pay package, after a choose struck it down in January (when it was value $56 billion). Musk’s large payday may put him above Zuckerberg by internet value, however it’s unclear whether or not the package deal will probably be accredited by shareholders on the firm’s proxy assembly in June.

The 2 billionaire executives have been at odds for years. In 2016, Meta contracted SpaceX to launch a satellite tv for pc that may’ve introduced web entry to sub-Saharan Africa. The rocket exploded on the journey, prompting Zuckerberg to put in writing on Facebook that he was “deeply disappointed.” After Musk purchased Twitter (now X), Zuckerberg was fast to launch Threads, a look-alike competitor, which Musk later referred to as “eerily quiet.”

Their battle escalated in June when Musk challenged Zuckerberg in a publish on X.

“I’m up for a cage match if he is lol,” he wrote on the time.

Zuckerberg, who has not too long ago taken an curiosity in martial arts, appeared to take the problem critically and was able to arrange the struggle. He later referred to as it off, saying Musk wasn’t critical about entering into the ring.

“Dana White offered to make this a legit competition for charity. Elon won’t confirm a date, then says he needs surgery, and now asks to do a practice round in my backyard instead,” Zuckerberg wrote on Threads. “If Elon ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me.”