Elon Musk vs. Mark Zuckerberg: A Head-to-Head Comparison of Their Net Worths, Companies and More
Two of the biggest names in the tech and business world are Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.
Musk is the eccentric mogul who is the co-founder of several companies, including Tesla, SpaceX and The Boring Company. In April 2022, Musk acquired Twitter — later rebranding it as X — for $44 billion with the disclosure of his 9.1% stake and hostile take over threats launched at the social media company. He’s married indie rock stars, has ten children and appears to be just getting started with some big ideas at age 52.
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Zuckerberg, on the other hand, is known for being only 19 when he started his website, Facebook, at Harvard in 2004. While Facebook took over the internet and connected the world, Zuckerberg took his company in a new direction in November 2021, launching Meta Platforms in order to focus on creating a metaverse that would be the new frontier of tech. Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan made a public pledge to donate 99% of their collective Facebook stake over the course of their lifetimes. At age 39, Zuckerberg is and has been one of the young billionaires in recent history.
Bios aside, how do Musk and Zuckerberg compare when it comes to the numbers: the stats and the data of their companies and personal worth. Here’s where they currently stand in relationship to each other.
Net Worth
According to the Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires list, Zuckerberg is worth $106.8 billion as of Oct. 3, which ranks him at No. 9 on the list.
Musk, however, is estimated to be worth about $250 billion, which crowns him as king in the No. 1 slot on the list.
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Number of Companies
Musk has been busy throughout his career, starting and helping to found a number of innovative organizations. Those companies and brands include Space X, Tesla, PayPal, The Boring Company, Nueralink Corporation, Open AI and the now defunct Zip2, totaling seven. He’s also acquired SolarCity via Tesla, as well as notably taken over X.
Zuckerberg, however, does beat Musk when it comes to the number of companies that he has a hand in leading, founding or acquiring. The list includes Meta, which owns Facebook, Threads, A.I. Reverie, Novi, Instagram, WhatsApp, CTRL-Labs, Onavo, Beluga, Oculus VR, LiveRail, Mapillary, tbh, Vidpresso, Atlas Solutions, Ascenta, Little Eye Labs and Protogeo. Zuckerberg and Chan also founded a philanthropic organization called the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative — notably beating Musk on the philanthropy front — bringing the final number of companies to 20.
Number of Employees Worldwide
Musk oversees a lot of companies, though none are quite as big in terms of staffing as their names might imply. Tesla has 127,855 employees, Space X 11,000 and PayPal just under 30,000. Meanwhile, Nueralink has less than 500 employees, and even smaller is The Boring Company, with under 200 staff members. Once taking over X, Musk cut a large part of its workforce, most recently laying off 10% in February 2023, and reducing the staff from 7,000 to 2,000 overall. Add it all up and Musk has about 171,555 people working for him in some way.
As of December 2022, there are 86,482 full-time employees who work for Meta companies, a huge uptick from the 150 people under Zuckerberg’s leadership back in 2006. This was after the decision came from Zuckerberg — blaming marketing drought, competition and economic stress — to lay off approximately 11,000 employees.
Market Factors
Taking a look at the biggest companies under Musk and Zuckerberg’s leadership, the two tech leaders hold their own against one another. For this competition, their two biggest companies will be put to the test: Tesla vs. Meta.
For Musk, the share prices for his companies are amongst the highest on the market, with Tesla hovering around $245. Musk serves as the CEO of Tesla, with the number one automotive company in the world holding a market cap of around $780 billion. Tesla has an up and down history to it. In September 2023, Schwab Equity Rating gave Tesla an “F” rating, as it strongly underperformed in valuation, stability and quality.
Zuckerberg, however, outdoes all of Musk’s companies, with Meta Platforms trending around $300 a share. According to Stock Analysis, Meta Platforms’ market cap has increased 847.37% in the last 11 years, up from $81.74 billion in 2012 to $774.37 billion in 2023. Meta’s compound annual growth rate currently stands at 21.84%. The Schwab Equity Rating for Meta Platforms is currently a “C,” which means it is performing on the market, but neither failing nor excelling.
The Warren Buffett Test
Warren Buffett, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway — and a renowned and legendary investor — can add clout, value and prestige to a company if he becomes a shareholder. When it comes to buying into Zuckerberg or Musk’s biggest enterprises, Buffett owns zero shares. Buffett’s fiscal philosophy starts with needing to understand a company’s business prior to investing, and so far, neither Zuckerberg nor Musk have swayed him to come aboard.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Elon Musk vs. Mark Zuckerberg: A Head-to-Head Comparison of Their Net Worths, Companies and More
