Shares of the social media tycoon and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg plunged to 8 percent after reports emerged over the weekend that data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica used the data of over 50 million users of facebook without their permission.
According to Forbes, “After another public relations debacle for Facebook—in which a Trump-affiliated data firm was accused of improperly gleaning information on more than 50 million users—the company’s stock plummeted nearly 7% through 1 pm Eastern Time on Monday, erasing $37 billion of market value. The decline had the biggest impact on Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s co-founder and CEO, whose net worth fell $5.1 billion.”
Zuckerberg holds more than 400 million shares of Facebook stock, his net worth now stands around $69.5billion.
In January, the Zuckerberg was reported to have lost $3.3 billion when it was revealed to its users how Facebook really operates.
“We built Facebook to help people stay connected and bring us closer together with the people that matter to us. But recently we’ve gotten feedback that public content – posts from businesses, brands, and media – is crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other. Based on this I’m changing the goal I give our product teams from focusing on helping you find relevant content to help you have more meaningful social interactions.” said Zuckerberg.
Despite his losses, Zuckerberg’s total net worth is still the fourth richest person in the world, behind Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.
