Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, just observed a rise in his personal wealth, which is now worth $100 billion, after Facebook launched a new feature of Reels on Instagram this Wednesday. Reels is a short-form video feature that is potentially a rival to TikTok.
Facebook shares experienced an increase by more than 6% on Thursday and Zuckerberg holds a 13% stake in the company. Zuckerberg is part of the so-called ''Centibillionaire Club'' whose members include Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, founders of Amazon and Microsoft, respectively. Founders of big tech companies have recently stolen the spotlight as the size and power of their companies continue to grow along with their personal fortunes.
Especially ever since the coronavirus lockdowns have been imposed, companies like Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google have been the biggest benefactors as more people started to shop online and turned to online entertainment and socialization. According to Bloomberg, Zuckerberg's personal wealth has gained about $22 billion this year and Bezos' has risen by more than $75 billion.
However, the tech bosses have become subject to increased scrutiny as European and American lawmakers have allegedly pointed out that their power and influence is getting out of control. Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, and Alphabet have current market valuations equal to approximately 30% of the U.S. GDP.
U.S Senator Bernie Sanders revealed a plan to tax ''obscene wealth gains'' made by the tech billionaires during the current pandemic. The ''Make Billionaires Pay Act'' would tax 60% of the increase in the net worth of a billionaire from the beginning of the pandemic till the end of the year. The tax revenue, as a result, would be spent on the health care of Americans.
As it seems, the launch of Reels on Instagram has proven to be a great opportunity for Zuckerberg, especially at a time when President Donald Trump has announced to ban the Chinese app's operations in the U.S., hence giving its competitor apps more advantage.
