Mark Zuckerberg Becomes World's Third-Richest Person (bloomberg.com)

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has overtaken Warren Buffett as the world's third-richest person, reports Bloomberg. Zuckerberg only trails Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. From the report: It's the first time that the three wealthiest people on the ranking made their fortunes from technology. Zuckerberg, 34, is now worth $81.6 billion, about $373 million more than Buffett, the 87-year-old chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway. Zuckerberg's ascent has been driven by investors' continued embrace of Facebook, the social-network giant that shook off the fallout from a data-privacy crisis that hammered its shares, sending them to an eight-month low of $152.22 on March 27. The stock closed Friday at a record $203.23.

Comments

Third riches business person, you mean

[magarity]

Let's see, Kim Ill owns his whole country outright, then Xi and Putin pretty much de facto own theirs... then there's the members of the junta who own Myanmar, etc, etc.

Re: Third riches business person, you mean

[Anonymous Coward]

The truly rich are slick enough to stay off the radar. And they are who Zuck answers to.

Re: Third riches business person, you mean

[volodymyrbiryuk]

The reptilian overlords.

Re:Third riches business person, you mean

[Anonymous Coward]

and the rothschilds who are easily the world's ten richest people.

Re:Third riches business person, you mean

[thePsychologist]

This post isn't totally a troll. Total worth in terms of stocks isn't the only way to measure wealth. There could be those not on this top list that have assets not easily measured or even legal that might make them comparable.

Re: Third riches business person, you mean

[DontBeAMoran]

And they answer to the Invisible Pink Unicorn.

Idiocracy...

[VeryFluffyBunny]

...in action. Facebook's got electrolytes.

Re:Idiocracy...

[Anonymous Coward]

It's what plants crave!

Re:Idiocracy...

[DontBeAMoran]

So what you're saying is that Facebook users are vegetables?

Precarious position?

[Peter P Peters]

Seems like an awfully precarious position for Zuckerberg to be in since his company effectively has one product which could easily be copied. And this is the bit I don't get get, where are the FB clones? Most people I know hate FB and would switch to another similar product if it were available, but there simply are none. Every competitor tried to do something different and failed (hello Google Plus) .
All that most people are after is the simple connect with 'friends', share a newsfeed format, and messaging but without the ads and the spying. Can't someone make something like this and put us out of FB misery forever? How hard is to build something just like the original FB (without the videos, the trending news, the autoplay ads etc) but with a different logo and colour scheme?

Re:Precarious position?

[Namarrgon]

Because the value is not in the product; it's in the people using it, and the people are all on Facebook. Metcalfe's Law means that it'll need something pretty damn disruptive to unseat them at this stage.

Re:Precarious position?

[swillden]

And this is the bit I don't get get, where are the FB clones? Most people I know hate FB and would switch to another similar product if it were available, but there simply are none.

Two words: Network effect. Everyone uses Facebook because everyone else uses Facebook.

Every competitor tried to do something different and failed (hello Google Plus).

That's because the only way to break the network effect is to offer an alternative that isn't a clone, but is actually significantly better in some compelling way. It has to offer something that will entice people to leave their friends and family. If what you offer is exactly the same as Facebook, then what's the incentive for people to move?

All that most people are after is the simple connect with 'friends', share a newsfeed format, and messaging but without the ads and the spying.

Most people don't care so much about "the ads and the spying". And even if they did... how would this alternative social network be funded if it didn't use targeted advertising? To support billions of users you need hundreds of thousands of servers, terabits of bandwidth and the operations and engineering staff to build and support all of it.

Re:Precarious position?

[swillden]

but is actually significantly better in some compelling way. It has to offer something that will entice people to leave their friends and family. If what you offer is exactly the same as Facebook, then what's the incentive for people to move?

Because you don't have to leave straight away, it is possible to run multiple Social Media Apps together. I currently have friends and family that I reach either by Skype, Viber, Whatsapp, Slack, Txt, Phone, Email whatever and it's not a problem.

I think maybe you don't know what social media is. Most of the things in your list are person-to-person messaging tools, not social media tools. Perhaps you only use Facebook for messaging?

Most people don't care so much about "the ads and the spying". And even if they did... how would this alternative social network be funded if it didn't use targeted advertising?

The same way every other tech project is funded, through VC.

And how are the VCs going to make money? They only invest if they think they can see big payback later. So where is that going to come from?

To support billions of users you need hundreds of thousands of servers, terabits of bandwidth and the operations and engineering staff to build and support all of it.

Like Tinder and Twitter and every other Tech App that makes no money?

Twitter is profitable -- it makes its money through targeted advertising, AKA "the ads and the spying". Tinder is not profitable, but is being run as a loss leader by the company that develops it, for now. Eventually it will have to become profitable or go away... and since it has already tried the subscription model and failed, it will almost certainly turn to targeted advertising.

Targeted advertising has proven to be the most effective way to fund large-scale online services. Until someone comes up with an alternative model, social media systems will all be funded by targeted advertising.

Re:Precarious position?

[Peter P Peters]

I think maybe you don't know what social media is.

Which doesn't answer the question why a user can't have multiple social media accounts at one time.

And how are the VCs going to make money? They only invest if they think they can see big payback later. So where is that going to come from?

A lot of VC works on potential. ie Find customers first, work out how to monetise it later. eg Twitter and Tinder

Targeted advertising has proven to be the most effective way to fund large-scale online services. Until someone comes up with an alternative model, social media systems will all be funded by targeted advertising.

The proposition is that there is potential to steal hundreds of millions of customers from FB by developing a clone product and marketing it to target groups who are ready to jump to something else.
Whether you introduce ads a few years down the track, a subscription model, or something else to monetise it doesn't matter in the first few years. The point is that there exists a lot of space in the market that no-one seems to be interested in grabbing

Re:Precarious position?

[Namarrgon]

Music services aren't social apps, and neither are mapping and search engines, in the sense of having a network of friends. It's the network that's the important part; I don't care whether my friend uses Bing or Apple Maps instead of Google - but I do care if they can't see my Facebook feed, and I can't see theirs. Twitter and Instagram are indeed social apps, but they both serve quite different audiences so they don't so much compete.

Sure users could post everything to FB2 as well as FB - but why would they? It's twice the effort, and there's nobody they know on FB2. Now if FB2 users could see FB posts, and make posts that FB users could see, then there'd be a minimal barrier to entry, the same network effect applies to both, and you might tempt new users with a nicer experience - but of course there's no way in hell that Facebook would ever allow that sort of interoperability to happen.

Re:Precarious position?

[Peter P Peters]

Sure users could post everything to FB2 as well as FB - but why would they? It's twice the effort,

I don't think you understand the Social Media users these days. Based on my anecdotal experience of working for a 'cool' youth retail head office with a dedicated social media team, and the owner of two heavy social media teenagers I can assure that if you had 50 social media apps, they would post shit 50 times to ensure no-one missed out on what they have to share. Ultimately 50 is not sustainable so the uncool ones would die a natural death. I believe that FB has past it's peak hype point so is ripe for an FB2 to usurp it (or at least steal a good chunk of its market)
Think of Tinder, how did that network start? Or Airbnb? Or Tidal? It's always tough to get off the ground, but this is why you mimic the FB experience (easy to setup and attract new users) but spend a shit ton on marketing it as the next big thing. Teenagers are only interested in new shiny, not ten year old shiny, even if it's the exact some thing just in a different colour, they will give it a go. Hell, make one of the Kardashians the CEO and you'll get 10 million customers on day one. .

The Rothschilds?

[Quake1v1]

The Rothchild family laughs at this silly list.

He may become the RICHEST, however:

[Rick Schumann]

No matter how much material wealth he manages to acquire over the course of his gods-be-damned life, he will still not have enough silver to pay the Ferryman.

ill gotten gains..

[GrBear]

And who said crime doesn't pay.

Yes, yes, I know he's not doing anything that's prosecutable as illegal.. but it sure the hell feels that way.

You do realize that once you have that much

[rsilvergun]

you're basically untouchable, right? Zuck is now a member of the ruling class. We do not spill the blood of kings.

Re:All the $ in the world can't fix his kind

[Anonymous Coward]

Get yourself some real information on what the Talmud says, rather than quoting the KKK.

Only respect I've seen /. give Mark Zuckerberg

[Trax3001BBS]

Is he married an ugly woman after he got the money.

So sad!

[niittyniemi]

I feel so sorry for the poor boy.

Re: "Person" is a little too strong a word

[Anonymous Coward]

I went out to *BSD's grave on Decoration Day. The old forgotten cemetery is by the dark woods beyond the edge of town. There within olfactory distance of the municipal treatment plant you will find *BSD's final resting place.

*BSD's tombstone was shrouded by thick mosses and knots of noxious ivy. I gently pulled aside the tangled twists of thorns, and cleaned the decaying marker the best I could. My melancholy thoughts pondered that this indeed was *BSD's figurative charnel house of which so many have plaintively spoken.

Nothing is so pitiful as an untended grave, a loved one now forgotten. The short sad life of this doomed and fated OS makes us realize that there but for the grace of God go all of us.

I planted some wilting marigolds which I had found discarded behind Bud's Garden Center. By some miracle perhaps they will take root and bring a modicum of cheer to BSD's God forsaken plot. My fervent hope is that the torpid colored boy whocarelessly mows the cemetery doesn't slice them down, inadvertently mirroring *BSD's own doomed encounter with death's irresistible scythe.

Funny how things work out. Linux, that brilliant novam stellam, now runs the Internet and the world's fastest computers, while *BSD lies moldering within its forgotten crypt. Let the barren silence of *BSD's tomb be a mute reminder that hubris and braggadocio were no defense on that woeful day when the Angel of Death's bleak umbra was cast upon *BSD.

...oh wait he said he was giving it all a way

[WindowsStar]

A few years back he said he would give 90% of all his money away that NO ONE needed so much money. ... and that of course was a lie!!!

Nice!

[nospam007]

How's his status on the most-hated person list?

Lies

[halofan_sd]

These rankings are lies they donâ(TM)t include rich willows and heirs, only people that are âoeself madeâ,so they can perpetuate the lie that the richest people are self made

Re: Judenberg is a subhuman JUDEN

[loufoque]

Google Franklin prophecy, it's false.