After losing about $2 billion more than a week ago on Facebook's second trading day as a public company, CEO Mark Zuckerberg came out of the three-day weekend to witness another precipitous drop in his fortune. According to Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires list, the value of his stake in Facebook plunged $1.5 billion to $14 billion after the company's share price fell below $30 on Tuesday.
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Facebook's stock closed down 9.6% at $28.84. Since Facebook's stock debuted on the Nasdaq on May 18 with underwriters selling shares at $38, it has dropped 24.1%.
Selling pressure seemed to be boosted by the start of options trading on Facebook, which opened today with record volume and a fair amount of negative sentiment. With options, traders can bet on a stock by paying less to buy an option than they would have to by buying or shorting the stock itself. That sentiment can in turn affect interest in a company's shares.
For the 28-year-old CEO, who owns more than 23.5% of shares outstanding of the Menlo Park, Calif.-based company, the slide in fortune and stock price continues a tumultuous period for the newly public social networking giant, which has come under scrutiny by investors wary of another internet bubble. Dustin Moskovitz, Zuckerberg's Facebook cofounder, saw his stake fall by about $389 million.
Facebook's two billionaire cofounders, however, aren't the only ones feeling the hurt. Facebook's rough first weeks as a public company are being felt worldwide.
Today, Russian social networking company VKontakte said it would be delaying its initial public offering indefinitely citing Facebook's poor opening and the subsequent souring of investor interest in Web 2.0 companies.
"The IPO of FB (Facebook) destroyed the faith of many private investors in social networks," wrote VKontakte CEO Pavel Durov on Twitter.
Source: Forbes | Ryan Mac
