Regulatory documents show that Zuckerberg sold nearly 1.28 million shares in two months at the end of last year, cashing out approximately $428 million. The largest sale was on December 28, when he sold $17.1 million in shares. Zuckerberg is not the only tech tycoon to sell shares aggressively. The Salesforce co-founder also spent much of the second half of last year selling shares.
On Thursday, regulatory filings showed that
In the decade since Meta went public, Zuckerberg has regularly sold off Meta stock, but 2022 is an exception. U.S. stocks plummeted in 2022, and Meta performed particularly badly under the impact of disastrous financial reports. The stock price plummeted 64% throughout the year, and Zuckerberg did not sell any stocks.
Meta rebounded strongly last year, rising nearly 200% throughout the year, benefiting from the rebound in the U.S. stock market and its own outstanding financial reports. The latest financial report at the end of October last year showed that Meta's quarterly revenue was the largest since it went public in 2012, as advertising demand rebounded and cost cutting and the development of new AI technology continued to benefit the company.
According to a company spokesman, Zuckerberg sold Meta stock primarily to fund charitable activities. He and his wife, Priscilla, have previously pledged to use 99% of their wealth for charitable causes during their lifetime, such as promoting equality and treating disease.
Zuckerberg holds about 13% of Meta's shares and has a net worth of approximately US$125 billion, making him the seventh richest person in the world.
At the beginning of 2024, U.S. technology stocks generally continued to fall. As of Thursday, the Nasdaq 100 index had fallen for five days in a row, its longest losing streak since December 2022.