Mark Zuckerberg just cashed in another $153 million worth of Meta shares, contributing to a whopping $2 billion in sales this year

Mark Zuckerberg has benefited from Meta stock hitting a series of all-time highs this year.

The co-founder and CEO of Meta (META), owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, sold more than $2.2 billion worth of shares in the company last year, according to a Assets Analysis of disclosures for each sale. According to the analysis, Zuckerberg has sold $153.2 million worth of shares so far in December alone. The sales and their value were confirmed by Equilar, a company that provides executive and compensation data.

Meta shares are up 82% this year to $630, an all-time high. And the company has reached a market cap of over $1 trillion, joining a select club with the likes of Apple and Amazon. While Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have publicly pledged to give away the majority of their wealth during their lifetimes, much of that work is done through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the couple’s philanthropic organization that offers grants and investments and now focuses largely on science and related research focused. It is not a traditional charity, but rather a so-called “philanthropocapitalism” organization.

Last year, Zuckerberg sold more than $400 million worth of Meta shares. This followed a two-year lull in sales during which the company’s stock price fell sharply as the CEO sought to shift the company’s focus to the Metaverse, an idea of ​​an immersive virtual world powered by augmented and virtual reality devices and Programs have been developed and have never been fully realized. The period also saw the number of Facebook users decline for the first time, while advertising revenue fell after Apple allowed users of its devices to opt out of app tracking, impacting Meta’s ability to sell digital ads.

His sale of about 4.6 million shares in 2024 is about four times as much as last year and has made him five times as much money so far. This year, Meta’s focus shifted more to generative artificial intelligence and slightly more practical wearable devices like Meta Ray-Bans. The advertising business grows every quarter. According to a Bloomberg estimate, Zuckerberg is one of the richest people in the world, with a current fortune of $223 billion.

A Meta spokesman did not respond to emails seeking comment.

Donald Trump has been openly critical of Meta and Zuckerberg, previously describing the CEO’s various financial contributions as “sugar bucks” and threatening to put him in prison. Like most big tech executives, Zuckerberg is doing everything he can to win Trump’s favor. Recently, Zuckerberg met Trump for dinner at his home in Florida, while Meta donated $1 million to a Trump inauguration fund The Wall Street Journal.

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