A dramatic drop in Meta’s stock market valuation has seen $29 billion struck from Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth, and it’s all thanks to two words that were uttered among the company’s plans for the next year.

While he’s never quite managed to claim the top spot, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has remained among the richest people in the world for a long while now, and his fortune only seems to be growing with Meta’s increased focus on artificial intelligence development.

Zuckerberg has never been shy of spending money though, and many have criticized his antics over the years as a waste — particularly when it came to the billions of dollars invested into the Metaverse, which has never taken off as a concept.

One of the company’s biggest goals is to be the defining name in the next big technology, which is also why it has gone in so much on smart wearables like the new Meta Ray-Ban collaboration glasses, yet that has seemingly hurt them in the short term.

Meta’s decision to continue spending on AI has caused the company’s stock price to plummet (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

As reported by the Times of India, two words have caused Meta’s stock price to plummet in the last week, as the company announced ‘notably larger’ capital expenses in the next year as a result of continued investment in AI.

That could very well result in significant revenue increases in the near future, as that money is being spent on numerous data centers including one Zuckerberg himself describes as a ‘mammoth’, but investors are seemingly fed up of the company’s continued spending, and have taken action.

Last Wednesday, October 29, Meta’s stock market price dropped from $756.13 to as low as $637.14 almost immediately after the company’s spending announcement, with the prices continuing to tumble further in the following days.

As a result, Zuckerberg has dropped several places on the world’s richest list, falling down to fifth place with a current net worth of ‘just’ $229 billion according to Bloomberg, despite this being over $260 billion before the announcement was made.

Zuckerberg has seen billions of dollars slashed from his net worth as a result (Ricky Carioti – Pool/Getty Images)

This is all due to Zuckerberg’s jaw-dropping wealth being tied up predominantly in Meta equity, of which he owns around 13.6% of the company, and therefore is hit hard by any drops — especially ones as big as this.

Much like everything in the world of stocks though this could climb back up almost as quickly as it has fallen, as all it takes is some good news for people to reinvest once more.

Zuckerberg himself will surely be alright too despite losing billions of dollars, as he still has more money than most of the world combined to fall back on.

Mark Zuckerberg allegedly had secret meeting to learn ‘how to speak’ to Donald Trump, new book says

Love him or loathe him, you’ve got to admit that President Donald Trump is a meme-worthy addition to the White House. Known for his epic soundbites and spouting seemingly nonsensical words like ‘bigly’ and ‘covfefe’, the POTUS is also immortalized for catchphrases like ‘fake news’ and ‘sad’. Donald Trump’s often priceless reactions mean even his biggest critics sometimes struggle not to laugh at his inadvertent hilarity.

Speaking Donald Trump’s lingo apparently isn’t as easy as you’d think, and although Elon Musk once looked like he had it locked down as the President’s First Buddy, it appears he isn’t as good at speaking to Trump as you’d originally think.

As one of the most powerful men in the world, and threatening to bring the tech industry to its knees with his One Big Beautiful Act bill and scathing trade tariffs, the Silicon Valley boys have been forced to fall in line.

Zuckerberg has apparently been trying to impress President Trump (Bloomberg / Contributor / Getty)

Even the man once affectionately referred to as ‘Tim Apple’ had to bend the knee, as Apple’s Tim Cook made a U-turn on plans to make the iPhone in India and promised to build big in the USA.

Another tech bro trying to curry favor with President Trump is Mark Zuckerberg. In a new book from Jonathan Karl, the ABC News journalist claims that the Meta overseer called for a meeting with the Attorney General on how best to speak with Trump.

As reported by The Independent, a passage in the upcoming Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America refers to a March 12 meeting where he asked Pam Bondi for guidance about how to ‘effectively speak’ to the President about Meta’s concerns.

The same day, Zuckerberg sat with Trump to discuss the company’s future just a month before the Federal Trade Commission’s April 14 antitrust case.

This wouldn’t have been the first time that Zuckerberg had met with the President, although it sounds like he was wary of this more formal liaison. It’s fair to say the pair have some past history, especially after Trump threatened to jail the social media mogul if he won the 2024 election.

Instead, Zuckerberg donated big to his campaign, broke bread with him at Mar-a-Lago, and has since attended a lavish dinner alongside fellow tech giants, including Bill Gates, Cook, and Sam Altman.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has yet to rule on the antitrust case, and even though it could see Meta forced to split off assets like Instagram and WhatsApp, Zuckerberg is seemingly tucked up in bed with the current administration. Despite an awkward hot mic moment, Zuck has vowed that Meta will spend $600 billion in the USA and has put his differences with the POTUS aside… for now.

If Zuckerberg hadn’t already learned the tricks to wooing Trump from Bondi, recent actions have likely done him plenty of favors. Meta is listed among the private donors who’ve donated to Trump’s controversial White House ballroom, while Zuckerberg has bought a $23 million home that’s just a stone’s throw from the White House.

Now that Zuckerberg has learned Trump’s tongue, perhaps he could give Musk a few pointers.