Mark Zuckerberg Net Worth Up $1 Billion Following Facebook's $5B FTC Fine

The very same day the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved a massive $5 billion fine against Facebook -- the largest FTC fine in its history -- saw the wealth of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg surge by $1 billion to $84 billion -- the most wealth Zuckerberg has ever had in his young life.

This twisted logic all occurred Friday and it effects lingered until Monday when Zuckerberg’s wealth hovered at that fantastic level despite a slight drop in the value of Facebook’s stock.

Another irony is the value of Facebook’s shares and Zuckerberg’s wealth began their rise after the FTC made public its decision to fine Facebook for its role in the infamous Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Zuckerberg’s wealth jumped $1 billion just 30 minutes after the FTC decision. Facebook’s shares actually rose 1% after the fine.

While some analysts are at a loss as to why this is so, others believe that because Facebook expected the fine and shaped its annual financials around it, investors reacted positively to news the fine wasn’t as huge as they expected it to be. Overall, this means the $5 billion was merely a slap on the wrist for Facebook.

Zuckerberg remains Facebook’s primary stockholder, and consequently stands to profit handsomely from any stock-price improvement. But boosting one’s already massive wealth amidst what should be bad news is something not altogether normal.

Federal records show that as of April, Zuckerberg owned 410,497,115 shares of Facebook. Each share was worth $202.31 before the news of the fine broke Friday afternoon, giving Zuckerberg a net worth of $83 billion. One hour after the news of the fine became public, about 4:00 p.m., the price of Facebook’s stock rose to $204.87, making Zuckerberg’s shares worth a huge $84.1 billion.

What this astonishing episode proves it Zuckerberg can make a massive windfall even if Facebook’s stock price rises by just 1%. Even an increase of only 0.05% would have made Zuckerberg $500 million richer.

Some analysts noted the irony in that the $5 billion FTC fine intended to punish Facebook for mishandling user data and not to increase Zuckerberg’s already stupendous wealth.

It’s worth remembering the $5 billion fine is a record for the FTC and the highest it’s ever levied against any firm. FTC intended to set a precedent by imposing what it saw was a painful fine to discourage tech firms from misusing user data. What it achieved was to make Zuckerberg richer by $1 billion in only 30 minutes.