Although not even 30 years old yet, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been dubbed the third richest person in the tech industry.
Thanks to Global Silicon Valley (GSV Capital), which bought 225,000 shares of the social networking giant at an average price of $29 per share, Facebook’s valuehas reached $70 billion, making Zuckerberg worth roughly $18 billion.
With the new investment, the Facebook CEO has even surpassed Google’s co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, not to mention Steve Ballmer (Microsoft) and Steve Jobs (Apple).
The richest man in tech industry, however, remains Bill Gates with roughly $56 billion, followed by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, with an estimated $39.5 billion.
While it is certainly comfortable being in his position (he recently bought a $7 million house), the ongoing trial against Zuckerberg for 84% of Facebook could very well place a cloud over the philanthropist’s clear future.
Of course, Zuckerberg isn’t the only millionaire/billionaire at Facebook. Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin, Sean Parker, Peter Thiel and Yuri Milner have all benefited from Facebook’s cash cow.
Currently, Facebook is said to have more than 650 million users, according to Internet World Stats. Nevertheless, recent reports indicate the social networking site is starting to lose members. It’s unlikely, though, that Facebook will experience a significant decrease in membership, mostly because there are still unexploited markets, such as Asia.
Nevertheless, a question pops up – will Facebook fall victime to the same fate as MySpace or other social networks that aren’t as popular now as they used to be during their glory days?
Remember, Facebook’s business isn’t as “touchable” as Microsoft or Apple is. You can touch an iPhone and you work with Microsoft Office almost every week.
But you check your Facebook account either out of curiosity or just to following your social habit/addiction.
That’s why Facebook has to be extra careful with its policies and the way they treat “customers,” because it’s much easier to cancel your Facebook account than to quit working on Microsoft Word or ditch your mobile hardware.
