Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth soared by more than US$10bil on April 27, his third-biggest jump on record, after Meta Platforms Inc surprised investors with robust first-quarter sales.

Meta shares rose 14% after the earnings report, lifting Zuckerberg’s fortune to US$87.3bil and boosting him up a notch on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index to 12th place. It’s the highest the Meta chief executive officer’s wealth has been in more than a year.

Thursday’s move reversed the wealth destruction Zuckerberg experienced in 2022, when his net worth fell 57% - or US$71bil - after a costly pivot to the metaverse and an industry-wide slump stirred concern over the company’s growth prospects.

The billionaire used Thursday’s results to burnish his case for pressing on with investments in areas like artificial intelligence and virtual reality.

The Menlo Park, California-based company has also focused on paring costs through lower spending and layoffs, in what Zuckerberg has described as “the year of efficiency.”

Zuckerberg’s biggest one-day increases in net worth are US$12.5bil on Feb 2, and US$11bil about a year ago.

 - Bloomberg