Mark Zuckerberg Surpasses Jeff Bezos To Claim Third Spot Among World’s Richest; Elon Musk Still On Top

Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg has overtaken Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to become the world’s third-wealthiest person, according to Forbes’ real-time billionaires list, after Meta’s stock surged following another strong earnings report.

Zuckerberg’s net worth jumped nearly 12% to $268.4 billion on Thursday, rising by about $28.4 billion, as Meta’s share price rallied more than 11%, marking its second-largest gain this year. He surpassed Bezos, whose net worth rose to $247.4 billion as Amazon shares climbed nearly 2%.

Elon Musk remains the richest person in the world with a fortune of $403.5 billion, followed by Oracle chairman Larry Ellison at $306 billion, Forbes reported.

Meta’s Stock Rally

The surge in Zuckerberg’s wealth came after Meta posted second-quarter earnings that beat expectations. The company reported $47.5 billion in revenue and $7.14 earnings per share, up 22% and 38% year-over-year, respectively.

It marked Meta’s 10th consecutive profit beat and 12th straight quarter of surpassing revenue estimates, driven partly by its heavy investments in artificial intelligence.

Meta raised the lower end of its annual capital expenditure forecast by $2 billion to a range of $66 billion–$72 billion, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg told analysts that AI advancements were significantly improving its core ad business on Facebook and Instagram.

The company also warned that expenses will continue to rise due to increased spending on data centres and higher compensation costs, as Meta has been aggressively hiring AI researchers. It expects expense growth in 2026 to outpace 2025 and plans higher capital expenditures next year as well.

The update comes amid an AI investment race among tech giants. Microsoft projected capital expenditure exceeding $30 billion for its fiscal first quarter, well above estimates, which would total around $120 billion for the year. 

Meanwhile, Google parent Alphabet recently raised its annual capital spending to $85 billion and signalled even more investments in 2026 to meet growing AI demand.

Meta’s stock has now risen 40% since April, when it hit its lowest point this year.

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Tech Billionaire Boom

In related news, Microsoft became the second company to hit a $4 trillion market valuation on Thursday, joining Nvidia. Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer saw his net worth jump by $4.9 billion to $149 billion, making him the eighth-richest person globally, according to Forbes.