Jeff Bezos has been surpassed by Mark Zuckerberg as the world's second-richest person.

• According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, has overtaken Jeff Bezos as the world's second wealthiest individual.
• In 2024, Zuckerberg's net worth increased by $78 billion due to his 13% stake in Meta, surpassing the combined net worth of all members of the 500 richest people tracked by the index.
• Meta has consistently exceeded analyst expectations in quarterly earnings, resulting in continuous support from Wall Street.

Jeff Bezos has been surpassed by CEO Mark Zuckerberg as the world's second richest person.

On Thursday, Zuckerberg's net worth surpassed that of the former Amazon CEO and president, reaching $206.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. However, he still lags behind Tesla CEO Elon Musk by approximately $50 billion.

Since the beginning of the year, Zuckerberg's net worth has increased by $78 billion due to his 13% stake in Meta, surpassing any other member of the 500 richest people tracked by the Bloomberg Index. On Thursday, Meta shares closed at a record high of $582.77, representing a 68% increase from early January when they were trading at $346.29.

The surge in investor enthusiasm over Facebook's rising profits this year has propelled Zuckerberg to the second spot on the index, highlighting the growth of his personal wealth.

Meta has experienced consistent revenue growth throughout 2024, with quarterly earnings exceeding analyst estimates. In July, the company reported a 22% increase in second-quarter sales, reaching $39.07 billion, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of revenue growth above 20%.

Meta has attributed its sales growth to the improvement of its online advertising platform, which it claims was aided by its significant investments in artificial intelligence. However, the company's online advertising system experienced a significant setback in 2021 due to Apple's introduction of an iOS privacy update that weakened its ability to track users across the web. In February 2022, Meta announced that the privacy changes would result in a loss of $10 billion in revenue.

In 2022, Zuckerberg implemented a significant cost-cutting plan that led to the layoff of 21,000 Meta employees, which was about a quarter of the company's workforce.

The online advertising business of Meta rebounded and was strengthened by the massive digital ad spending campaigns of Chinese-linked retailers Temu and Shien, resulting in a positive reaction from investors as the company implemented cost-cutting measures.

Despite Meta's ongoing investments in virtual and augmented reality technologies for the metaverse, investors are more accepting of the expenditures as long as the company's core advertising business remains strong.

The Orion AR glasses, recently unveiled by Meta, received positive feedback from a small group of testers.

Watch: CNBC reviews Meta's Orion AR glasses prototype