Mark Zuckerberg's net worth from Facebook has soared $5 billion in the first two weeks of 2017, according to Forbes magazine, bolstered by rising revenues and a "series of bullish analyst reports."
Zuckerberg, who owns 410 million shares of Facebook which he founded, saw his company's shares close at $128.34 on Friday, reported Market Watch. The closing inched Facebook closer to its all-time high of $133 last October.
"As a result, Zuckerberg … has more than recouped the losses he suffered in the weeks following Donald Trump's election, when his net worth fell 7 percent to $49 billion," said Forbes' Noah Kirsch. "He is now worth an estimated $53.8 billion, according to Forbes' real-time rankings of the world's billionaires, and clocks in as the planet's fifth-richest person."
"Zuckerberg trails only Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos and Amancio Ortega of Spain, each of whom holds a fortune of more than $70 billion," noted Kirsch.
Forbes said Facebook has received some positive press for its efforts to root out the proliferation of fake news content on its site. Last week, the social media website introduced its new "journalism project" that it hopes will lead to improved relationships with the media and increasing "news literacy."