Meta Platforms
Mark Zuckerberg's wealth jumped $7.9 billion Wednesday, the largest move of any of the world's richest billionaires. The move helped pad Zuckerberg's overall net worth, which has fallen in 2026.
As of Wednesday, Zuckerberg ranked as the sixth richest person in the world worth $225 billion, according to estimates from Bloomberg.
Zuckerberg's wealth remains down $7.8 billion year-to-date in 2026, with Meta stock still down 2.3% year-to-date as well. Zuckerberg, who co-founded Meta, owns around 13% of the technology giant.
The recent wealth gain for Zuckerberg and boost for Meta stock comes after the billionaire was down $46.3 billion in wealth in March with Meta shares down significantly.
Meta stock was up 3.7% to $635.26 on Wednesday versus a 52-week trading range of $520.26 to $796.25.
New Premium Subscriptions
Meta rolled out Instagram Plus ($3.99/month), Facebook Plus ($3.99/month) and WhatsApp Plus ($2.99/month) this week, with each offering added features for active and super users.
According to TechCrunch, this means profile customization, super reactions and story insights, with promises that "more fun features" will be coming. Instagram Plus subscribers will be able to tier their Stories to a larger audience and potentially grow their following.
Meta is also testing other premium offerings, including professional plans for businesses and creators and AI themed plans for other users. This includes the future launch of Meta one Plus ($7.99/month) and Meta One Premium ($19.99/month).
While Meta AI will be free for all users, the premium plans will offer additional features and for users requiring heavier usage and compute. AI plans are expected to start testing next month in select markets.
Analyst Sees 'Multi-Billion Dollar Potential'
Rosenblatt analyst Barton Crockett said the new subscription plans could help add additional revenue to the company.
The analyst maintained a Buy rating on Meta with a price target of $1,015.
"Based on traction at Snap and OpenAI, this looks like a multi-billion dollar revenue opportunity," Crockett said.
Crockett said Snap's similar plan to the Facebook and Instagram premium offering has over 25 million subscribers and an annual run rate of $1 billion.
The new AI plans are said to be similar to OpenAI plans that have over 50 million subscribers at a rate of $5 to $8 per month.
"Meta likely earns ~$1B ARR now from the Verified subscription plans and the ad-free plan in Europe, under 1% of its global sales. Vaulting to multi-billions of subscription sales is certainly possible, given massive scale at 3.56 billion daily active users that can be marketed in-app."
