Zuckerberg loses $5B, gets knocked off Top 40 billionaires list
At least the wedding went off without a hitch.
Since Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg offered a piece of his social networking company to the public and tied the knot with longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan two weeks ago, his personal fortune and that of his company have taken sizable hits.
Facebook’s stock has plunged since the public began buying shares May 18, and the drop has shaved about $25 billion from the $104 billion valuation placed on the company.
The stock, which was priced at $38 for the initial public offering, is down about 24 percent since the IPO , closing Tuesday below $29. That means the value of Zuckerberg’s holdings is also down, by about $5 billion in just two weeks, according to Bloomberg’s daily ranking of the world’s richest people.
As a result, Bloomberg has knocked Zuckerberg off its list of top 40 billionaires worldwide. The 28-year-old is no longer in the company of Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, the Waltons of Walmart.
On May 18, Zuckerberg’s Facebook holdings were valued at $19.4 billion, instantly making him the 26th richest man on Earth. By Tuesday, the value of his shares had dropped to $14.7 billion. Of course, it’s only a loss on paper, and the loss is only realized If the shares are sold.
Some investors have been so disappointed in the loss of value after purchasing the stock that they are suing the company, the IPO’s underwriters and Nasdaq, which trades Facebook’s stock under the symbol FB, claiming Facebook wasn’t fully upfront about its growth prospects.
Zuckerberg was replaced on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index by Luis Carlos Sarmiento, Colombia’s richest man, worth $15.5 billion. Bloomberg estimates Zuckerberg will have to add about $800 million in value to get back into the top 40 league.
Facebook shares Wednesday were trading higher, but still below $30. Bloomberg reports Facebook’s stock price would have to drop another 20 percent, to around $23, to be in line with the valuations of other Internet companies. It’s currently trading at 29.5 times the company’s projected 2014 profit of $2.69 billion.
Zuckerberg was honeymooning with Chan in Europe this week.
http://blogs.ajc.com/business-beat/2...-by-5-billion/