Mark Zuckerberg has become the world’s second-richest person for the first time, surpassing Jeff Bezos as Meta Platforms Inc. shares continue to soar. Zuckerberg’s net worth has now reached $206.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, placing him $1.1 billion ahead of Amazon founder Bezos and trailing only Tesla’s Elon Musk by nearly $50 billion.

Meta’s stock has surged by 23% since the company reported stronger-than-expected sales in the second quarter, driven by its focus on large language models powering AI chatbots. The stock hit an all-time high of $582.77 on Thursday.

Zuckerberg’s investment in the metaverse, which was initially viewed with skepticism, has started to pay off. Meta has also ramped up spending on data centers and computing resources to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. In addition to its AI efforts, Meta introduced its Orion augmented reality glasses last month, pushing forward with long-term projects.

Zuckerberg, who holds a 13% stake in Meta, has added $78 billion to his fortune this year, the largest gain among the 500 wealthiest individuals tracked by Bloomberg. The 40-year-old CEO has climbed four positions on the wealth index in 2024 alone.