Everything is going well for him this year.
Mark Zuckerberg, who became a laughing stock last year, following the stock market crash of Meta Platforms, parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, seems to be rising from the ashes like the phoenix in Greek mythology.
His fortune, for example, which had plunged by $71 billion last year compared to 2021, a collapse which had ejected him from the crème de la crème of billionaires on the planet, has been reconstituted. His net worth has increased by $39.9 billion this year, one of the largest annual increases among any billionaire, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. He is worth $89.5 billion as of May 8 and is now knocking on the door of the top 10. He is currently tied at 12th place, just less than $9 billion from the tenth place.
At the same time, Meta Platforms (META) has returned to the elite of the largest companies on the planet, with a market value of almost $600 billion, making it the eight largest company in the world.
Gold Medal
These rebounds are the result of a magic word which Zuckerberg repeats over and over again: efficiency. Behind this marketing word hide massive job cuts -- 21,000 jobs eliminated since November 9 -- drastic cost reductions and a strategic refocusing, giving space to Artificial Intelligence and relegating the metaverse to the abyss.
"Meta’s Year of Efficiency," the company's chief executive called 2023 in a blog post last month. "As I’ve talked about efficiency this year, I’ve said that part of our work will involve removing jobs -- and that will be in service of both building a leaner, more technical company and improving our business performance to enable our long-term vision."
Investors applauded the efficiency and rewarded Zuckerberg, who seems to have regained his edge, like an athlete finding the way to victory.
Speaking of sports, Zuckerberg is also an athlete and has just proven it. The billionaire just won two medals in Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitions, on May 6 in Silicon Valley.
He got into the Brazilian martial arts during the COVID-19 pandemic, he told controversial podcaster Joe Rogan in an interview last August. The martial arts gave him an energy boost, he said.
In just a short time he is already lining up victories. The soon to be 39 years old -- he will turn 39 in 5 days, on May 14 -- won a gold medal and a silver medal at his first competition, which took place on May 6 in Redwood City, California. He competed in two events - Gi (with use of traditional uniform) and No-Gi BBJ (without the uniform).
Controversy
"Competed in my first jiu jitsu tournament and won some medals 🥇🥈 for the Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu team," the chief executive wrote on Facebook last Saturday. "Thanks to Dave Camarillo, Khai Wu, and James Terry for training me!"
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One of Zuckerberg's matches, however, was marred by controversy. During one of his fights, the billionaire was visibly upset. He confronted the referee with whom he had a tense exchange.
Zuckerberg, however, impressed the sports world and also users on social networks, amazed to see him achieve victories in his very first martial arts competition.
"Wow congrats 👏👏," congratulated Brandon Moreno, the UFC flyweight champion.
"Legend! Love the shorts mate," Alex Volkanovski, the UFC featherweight champion quipped.
"When the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world gives you shorts, you wear them," Zuckerberg responded to Volkanovski.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a martial art derived from traditional Japanese jiu-jitsu (known today as judo), which is practiced mainly on the ground and whose goal is to submit the opponent. Voluntary strikes (kicks, punches, elbows, heads and knees) are prohibited in official practice.
Commonly nicknamed "the human chess game", Brazilian jiu-jitsu draws its quintessence from technique, timing and leverage rather than brute force, thus allowing to dominate opponents with a more imposing size. It has become very popular lately in the US.
