Currently, the majority of Mark Zuckerberg's income comes from Meta, with his annual base salary reportedly at $1 billion.
According to Forbes Real Time Report, Mark Zuckerberg has a net worth of approximately $107 billion, ranking 9th among the top 10 billionaires in the world.
Zuckerberg's tech journey began in 2004 while he was a student at Harvard University. Facebook was sparked by the controversial “Facemash” project, in which students rated each other's attractiveness. Although Facemash was short-lived due to its controversy, it planted the seeds of Zuckerberg's grand vision of connecting people through online platforms.
The idea evolved into Facebook, which was funded by entrepreneur Peter Thiel with $500,000 in funding. It quickly grew to 1 million users in its first year, which prompted Zuckerberg to drop out of Harvard to focus on the platform.
As Facebook's user base grew, so did the company's financial situation. Investors like Microsoft saw the potential and jumped in. In 2012, Facebook had an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), raising a massive $16 billion, one of the largest tech IPOs at the time.
Zuckerberg's ambitions didn't stop at Facebook. The company went on an acquisition spree, acquiring Instagram for $1 billion in 2012. Two years later, in 2014, Facebook made headlines by acquiring WhatsApp for $19 billion. WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption and cross-platform compatibility have made it an essential communication tool for billions of users around the world.
To further diversify its portfolio, Facebook expanded into virtual reality with the acquisition of Oculus for $2 billion in 2014. Mark Zuckerberg's forward-thinking approach was again on display with the launch of Threads in 2023, a direct competitor to Elon Musk's X.
Currently, the majority of Mark Zuckerberg's income comes from Meta, with a reported annual base salary of $1 billion. His ownership of 61% of the company's voting stock as of March underscores his influence in shaping Meta's future. Zuckerberg's journey from college dorm room to tech mogul serves as an inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs around the world.
