Everything is going well for him this year.
Mark Zuckerberg, who became a laughing stock last year in the wake of the stock market crash of Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, seems to be rising from the ashes like a phoenix in Greek mythology.
His wealth, which declined by $71 billion last year, was reconfigured compared to 2021, a collapse that expelled him from the class of top billionaires on the planet. His net worth increased by $39.9 billion this year, one of the largest annual increases among any billionaire, according to Bloomberg Billionaire Index. He has a net worth of $89.5 billion as of May 8 and is now knocking on the door of the top 10. He is currently tied for 12th place, just under $9 billion from 10th place.
At the same time, Meta Platforms (meta) – Get a free reportIt returned to the elite of the largest companies on the planet, with a market capitalization of nearly $600 billion, making it the eighth largest company in the world.
gold medal
These bounces are the result of a magic word Zuckerberg repeats over and over: efficiency. Behind this marketing word hides massive job cuts – 21,000 jobs have been cut since November 9 – drastic cost cuts and a strategic refocus, giving space to artificial intelligence and living metaphysics into the abyss.
“Meta’s year of efficiency,” the company’s CEO called 2023 in a blog post last month. “As I talked about efficiency this year, I said that part of our work will include removing jobs — and that will be in the service of building a more agile, more technical company and improving our business performance to enable our long-term vision.”
Investors praised the efficiency and rewarded Zuckerberg, who seems to have regained his edge, like an athlete finding his way to victory.
Speaking of sports, Zuckerberg is also an athlete and he just proved it. The billionaire just won two medals in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitions, on May 6 in Silicon Valley.
He got into Brazilian martial arts during the COVID-19 pandemic, he told controversial broadcaster Joe Rogan in an interview last August. He said that martial arts gave him a powerful boost.
In a short time, he was already lining up victories. He will soon be 39 – he will turn 39 in 5 days, on May 14 – and won a gold medal and a silver medal in his first competition, which took place on May 6 in Redwood City, California. He competed in two events – Gi (with the use of traditional costume) and No-Gi BBJ (without the uniform).
controversy
“I competed in my first jiu-jitsu tournament and won some medals for the Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu team,” the CEO wrote on Facebook last Saturday. “Thanks to Dave Camarillo, Khai Wu and James Terry for coaching me!”
View original article to see embedded media.
But one of Zuckerberg’s matches was marred by controversy. During one of his fights, the billionaire was visibly upset. He faced the referee, with whom he exchanged tense dialogues.
Nevertheless, Zuckerberg impressed the sports world as well as users on social networks, stunned by seeing him score victories in his first martial arts competition.
“Wow Congrats 👏👏,” congratulated Brandon Moreno, UFC flyweight champion.
“A legend! I love the shorts mate,” joked UFC Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski.
Zuckerberg responded to Volkanovski by saying, “When the number one pound-and-pound fighter in the world gives you shorts, you wear them.”
Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a martial art derived from traditional Japanese jiu-jitsu (today known as judo), which is mainly practiced on the ground and whose goal is to dispatch the opponent. Voluntary strikes (kicks, punches, elbows, head and knees) are prohibited in official practice.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, commonly called “the game of human chess”, draws its essence from technique, timing and potency rather than brute force, allowing opponents to be dominated by a greater magnitude. It has become very popular recently in the United States.