Mark Zuckerberg joins fellow billionaire Elon Musk against OpenAI after battling him in tech space

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and X owner Elon Musk have been locked in a face-off for over a decade. They have squabbled over everything from artificial intelligence to running their social media platforms. At one point, there was a chance of their feud getting physical. However, it seems like the two have rested the battle to take on a common enemy, Sam Altman. The two tech billionaires have joined to keep Altman's company OpenAI, a nonprofit.

Since OpenAI is one of Meta's biggest competitors in AI, Meta recently asked the California attorney general to stop the company from becoming a for-profit organization, as per Business Insider. Zuckerberg's Meta accused OpenAI of "taking advantage" of its status as a nonprofit to raise billions.  With that, the company sided with Musk, who is currently in a legal fight to prevent the same.

When it comes to using technology to make billions, Zuckerberg is one of the experts. His rise in space and surge in wealth are testaments to that. 

His journey in the tech world began when he co-founded "The Facebook" in 2004 while studying at Harvard University. Over the years, he played a pivotal role in transforming it into a global social networking giant that went public in 2012, further solidifying his wealth. In the spring of 2004, Zuckerberg, Moskovitz, and their friends relocated to Palo Alto, California, where they rented a small house as Facebook's initial office. During that summer, Zuckerberg crossed paths with Peter Thiel, who became an investor in the company.

On July 21, 2010, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook had reached 500 million users. Today, Facebook stands as a colossal social network, propelling Mark Zuckerberg into the ranks of the world's wealthiest individuals. Facebook went public on May 18, 2012, with an initial share price of approximately $38. With 400 million shares in his possession, Zuckerberg's paper net worth at the IPO amounted to approximately $15 billion.

The prominent American technology entrepreneur and philanthropist is known for co-founding Facebook (now Meta), one of the world's largest and most influential social media platforms. Zuckerberg's journey from Harvard University to Silicon Valley has made him one of the youngest billionaires globally, with a net worth of $205.9 billion, as of December 2024, according to Forbes.

Zuckerberg's primary source of income is his substantial ownership of Facebook shares. He controls approximately 58% of Facebook's total voting power through his Class B super-voting shares, making him one of the most influential figures in the company.

On July 27, 2023, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Meta (formerly Facebook), witnessed a significant $9 billion boost in his wealth. This surge came as Meta's stock soared by 9% following a robust second-quarter earnings report. The increase in advertising revenue and the successful launch of Threads, Meta's answer to Twitter, were key contributors to this financial success, benefiting Meta as the parent company of Facebook.

He receives an annual salary of just $1. This low salary allows him to focus on maximizing the value of his stock holdings, as many top executives do. His true wealth stems from the increase in the value of his Facebook shares over time.