Forbes today has it’s new list of the richest Americans out, and there’s a bit of a shocker within the tech world: Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg is now “worth more” than Steve Jobs!
This year, Zuckerberg, 26, added $4.9 billion to his fortune–vaulting to #35 on the Forbes 400 with an estimated fortune of $6.9 billion. Why the jump? Recent private equity investments in Facebook valued the firm at around $23 billion–more than triple its 2009 value of $7 billion. Illiquid private shares in secondary markets point to an even richer valuation.
Jobs has a net worth of $6.1 billion–$1 billion higher than 2009–placing him at # 42 in the list of America’s richest. Still, he couldn’t keep up with Tech’s new whiz kid.
Facebook is valued at $23 billion, so that makes Zuck’s ownership stake close to $7bil. OK. Let’s do a quick review of financials here. Projected revenues for Facebook are anywhere from $1.2bil to $2bil this year. Profitability is unknown. Apple, meanwhile, made almost $16bil IN THE LAST QUARTER ALONE! With around $6bil in profit in that quarter! They’re sitting on a massive pile of cash. And, oh yeah, they actually make stuff. Yet Zuckerberg still is a richer man than Jobs.
Valuations take into account more factors than just current revenues. Facebook is being valued on projected revenues / market leverage / profit margins. While Apple is a great company, it’s potential is fairly well understood. Facebook’s range of outcomes is much broader, and so you end up with valuations being set by those who have drunk the Kool-aid (because Facebook stock isn’t being bought and sold in an open liquid market).
(Source: razorsharp)
