Facebook shares hit record adding $2.4B to Zuckerberg fortune in 15 minutes on earnings bonanza

Facebook Inc. shares rose to a record after the company notched another quarter of revenue that beat estimates, thanks to stepped-up mobile-advertising efforts.

The stock rose 4.8 per cent to US$108.94 at 10:29 a.m. Thursday in New York. The shares reached as high as US$110.65, their intraday record since going public in May 2012. The gain gave Facebook a market value of about US$305 billion, adding billions of dollars in wealth to the company’s principal architects.

Founder and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg had US$2.4 billion added to his fortune in the first 15 minutes of trading, giving him a net worth of US$47.8 billion. He is the eighth-wealthiest person on the planet, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Co-founder Dustin Moskovitz gained US$500 million, putting his fortune at US$10.7 billion. Sean Parker, Facebook’s original president, gained US$390 million. He is worth US$7 billion. The wealth of chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg rose US$38 million to about US$1.3 billion.