Zuckerberg's Wealth Drops $12.2 Billion Amid AI Concerns

On September 29, 2026, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, experienced a significant decline in his net worth, losing approximately $12.2 billion as Meta shares fell amid investor concerns regarding the company's artificial intelligence spending. His net worth decreased by 4.23% to an estimated $245.4 billion, dropping below the $250 billion mark, according to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires Index.

This decline follows a previous loss of about $8.9 billion on September 26, 2026, resulting in a total loss exceeding $20 billion over two days. Meta is projected to spend up to $145 billion on capital expenditures in 2026, focusing on AI models and computing infrastructure.

Despite this, investor optimism had previously driven Meta shares up by 36% in September, partly due to the successful launch of its Muse AI assistant, which garnered 2.8 million downloads in its first two weeks. Additionally, Meta announced the appointment of Chirantan “CJ” Desai, CEO of MongoDB, as its chief enterprise platform officer to lead a new business focused on selling AI models and tools.