Mark Zuckerberg Becomes 6th Wealthiest Man As Facebook Shares Soars

The social network smashed investors’ expectations with a 52-per cent jump in quarterly revenue as it sold more ads targeted at its fast-growing number of mobile users, with mobile revenue accounting for 80% of the total $5.84 billion in revenue.

Zuckerberg’s net worth increased $4.85 billion to $46.25 billion, as Facebook stock Soared 12%, in after-hours trading to $105.82.

At the age of 31, Zuckerberg is the youngest of the world’s 10 wealthiest people. In September 2015, Zuckerberg became one of the 10 richest people in the United States for the first time. He’s now the 4th richest in the United States and 6th richest in the world.

Facebook said mobile ads accounted for 80 percent of total ad revenue in the quarter, compared with about 78 percent in the third quarter and 69 percent a year earlier.

The company has also begun monetizing some of its other units, such as photo-sharing app Instagram, which surpassed 400 million users last year and began selling ads in September.

Social networking remains Facebook’s foundation. The service picked up another 46 million users during the final three months of last year to expand its worldwide audience to 1.59 billion users.

“I’m excited about our progress and the chance to build something great for the future,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told analysts in a Wednesday conference call.

That’s largely thanks to an increase in mobile and video views — an impressive statistic, considering both are relatively new ventures for Facebook.

Google still rules the digital-advertising roost. But Facebook’s fourth-quarter performance shows it’s narrowing the gap as the giant network ramps up sales of mobile advertising and begins to make money from mobile app Instagram.