How Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg makes and spends his $65 billion fortune, from Italian sports cars to millions in Hawaii real estate

mark zuckerberg facebook meta

Kim Kulish/Corbis via Getty Images

  • Mark Zuckerberg is one of the most powerful and wealthiest figures in the world.

  • He has a net worth of $64.7 billion, according to Forbes, and spends much of it on charity.

  • But he also pours money into real estate, especially in Hawaii, and cars.

Mark Zuckerberg is one of the wealthiest people in the world.

The Facebook founder and CEO’s fortune surpassed $100 billion last year, making him one of 10 centi-billionaires on the planet. However, recent events have brought that figure down to $64.7 billion, according to Forbes.

Zuckerberg mostly keeps a low profile, but he does splurge on real estate — especially in the tropical paradise that is Hawaii. He and his wife, Priscilla Chan, also invest in childhood education and medical research.

Here’s how the tech mogul spends his billions, from cars to properties to charity.

Facebook debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in May 2012.

mark zuckerberg facebook ipo nasdaq

Zuckerberg in New York May 18, 2012.Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Eight years after its founding, Facebook clocked in the milestone. At the time, it was the biggest technology IPO in history and it sent Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth soaring.

Source: Insider

Much of Zuckerberg’s fortune comes from Facebook.

Mark Zuckerberg 2020

Getty

The exec has a 13{09e594db938380acbda72fd0ffbcd1ef1c99380160786adb3aba3c50c4545157} stake in the company, whose parent company is now called Meta.

But he doesn’t make a large salary — in fact, his take-home pay is just $1.

Source: Bloomberg, Insider

But he’s fairly low-key.

mark zuckerberg priscilla chan

Priscilla Chan and Mark ZuckerbergBloomberg via Getty Images

Despite his status as one of the richest tech moguls, the 38-year-old Harvard dropout leads a down-to-earth lifestyle with his wife, Priscilla Chan, and their two young daughters.

And he’s not a fan of flashy clothes.

Mark Zuckerberg Facebook Connect 2021

Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook Connect 2021Facebook

Like many other Silicon Valley stalwarts, Zuckerberg doesn’t dress in flashy suits — he keeps things simple in jeans, t-shirts, and sweaters.

But they’re reportedly much more expensive than they look, retailing for hundreds, and even thousands, of dollars.

Source: Insider, GQ

Neither is he into flash vehicles.

Mark zuckerberg in a car

Zuckerberg in 2012.Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Zuckerberg is known for driving relatively inexpensive cars. He’s been seen in an Acura TSX and a Honda Fit, both of which are valued at or under $30,000.

Sources: Insider, CNBC

He loves his signature Volkswagen.

Volkswagen Golf GTI

Tony Avelar/AP

He’s been spotted driving a black Volkswagen Golf GTI, a car that he bought well after making his fortune. That car would cost about $30,000 new.

Source: Insider

Although he did splurge on a car …

mark zuck pagani huayra

Mark Zuckerberg and a Pagani Huayra. Not Zuckerberg’s actual car.Charles Platiau/Reuters and Norbert Aepli/Wikimedia/CC 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2015-03-03_Geneva_Motor_Show_3249.JPG

He has dropped serious cash on at least one sports car: an Italian Pagani Huayra that sells for about $1.3 million.

Source: Insider, Yahoo

And most recently, he posted some new wheels on Instagram.

for

Not Zuckerberg’s car.John Prieto/The Denver Post via Getty Images

In July, Zuckerberg posted a photo of what appear to be two refurbished vintage Ford Broncos, one baby blue and one black, with the caption “his and hers.” The price is unknown.

 

 

He spends money more freely on real estate.

mark zuckerberg house home palo alto 4x3

Zillow

In May 2011, he bought a 5,000-square-foot home in Palo Alto for $7 million. He’s since tricked it out with a “custom-made artificially intelligent assistant.”

Source: San Francisco Chronicle, CNBC

Then he bought up nearby land.

Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, a self-made billionaire.

KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / Contributor / Getty

The next year, Zuckerberg began buying the properties surrounding his home, spending more than $30 million to acquire four homes with plans to level them and rebuild.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle, CNBC

He also used to own a townhouse in the Mission District of San Francisco.

san francisco dolores park covid social distancing park

San Francisco in 2020.Ahmet Karaman/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

He bought the 5,500-square-foot home in 2013 and proceeded to make over $1 million in renovations, including adding a greenhouse and remodeling the kitchen.

But in July, he sold it in an off-market sale for $31 million, the biggest residential real estate deal in San Francisco so far this year.

Source: Curbed San Francisco, Business Insider

Then there’s Hawaii.

Kauai Hawaii

A beach in Kauai.Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images

In 2014, the billionaire’s real-estate portfolio jumped the Pacific when he spent $100 million on two properties on the island of Kaua’i: the Kahu’aina Plantation, a 357-acre former sugarcane plantation, and Pila’a Beach, a 393-acre property with a white-sand beach.

Source: Insider, Forbes

But there’s been backlash.

Kauai, Hawaii

A beach in Kauai.Jennifer McDermott/AP

In 2016, Zuckerberg angered neighbors by constructing a 6-foot wall around his property, and in 2017, Zuckerberg filed suit against Hawaiian families who had legal-ownership claims on parcels of land within his property. Though he dropped the suit, residents accused him of “neocolonialism.”

Source: Insider

He’s adding onto his Hawaii properties too.

Wailua Falls in Kaua‘i, Hawaii.

Wailua Falls in Kaua‘i, Hawaii.Andriy Prokopenko/Getty Images

In March 2021, he spent $53 million on nearly 600 acres of land on Kauai and in December, he purchased 110 more acres of land nearby for $17 million.

Source: Insider

The purchases serve as a respite for the executive.

mark zuckerberg facebook

Facebook

When Zuckerberg is in Hawaii, he appears to spend his time unwinding and enjoying some hobbies. He’s been photographed riding a $12,000 electric surfboard in the ocean off Kaua’i and practices shooting arrows and throwing spears on his property.

Source: Insider, Insider

Zuckerberg made another massive real estate purchase in 2018.

lake tahoe

Lake Tahoe.Gado/Getty Images

He shelled out for two lakefront properties on Lake Tahoe, which cost a combined $59 million. One of the houses, called the Brushwood Estate, spans 5,233 square feet on six acres of land. The property features a guest house and a private dock.

Between his two Lake Tahoe properties, Zuckerberg owns about 600 feet of private shoreline on Lake Tahoe’s west shore. When Zuckerberg buys properties, he tends to buy the other homes surrounding it for privacy reasons, just as he did in Palo Alto.

Source: Insider, SF Gate

Zuckerberg doesn’t appear to travel much for pleasure.

Mark Zuckerberg smiles while walking outside at 2021 Sun Valley conference

Zuckerberg this summer.Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

But when he traverses the globe for work, Meta foots the bill: security for Zuckerberg and his family cost the company $23 million in 2020, the company reported.

Source: Insider

Ultimately, opulence and luxury are just a blip on Zuckerberg’s radar.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks about "News Tab" at the Paley Center, in New York on October 25, 2019.

Zuckerberg on October 25, 2019.AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

In fact, his main priority seems to be giving his money away, rather than spending it.

Zuckerberg has signed onto the Giving Pledge.

Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg

Bill Gates and Mark ZuckerbergBeck Diefenbach/Reuters

He joined Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and over 200 other millionaires and billionaires who have vowed to donate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy. He plans to sell 99{09e594db938380acbda72fd0ffbcd1ef1c99380160786adb3aba3c50c4545157} of his Facebook shares during his lifetime.

Source: Insider

He plans to donate significantly to his and his wife’s organization.

Mark Zuckerberg Priscilla Chan

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan.Peter Barreras/Invision/AP

Zuckerberg said in September 2017 that he planned to sell 35 to 75 million shares over the following 18 months to fund the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, totaling between $6 billion and $12 billion.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is a philanthropic organization Zuckerberg founded with his wife in 2015 focused on “personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people, and building strong communities.” CZI has awarded nearly $3 billion in grants over the years.

Source: Insider, Insider, CZI

CZI is invested in tackling both local and global issues.

priscilla chan

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

In 2020, for example, the organization poured $4.2 million into a jobs program for residents of Kaua’i and committed $1 million to help the region battle the coronavirus. CZI has also contributed millions in the last year to causes like criminal justice reform and affordable housing.

Source: Insider, CZI

The pair have also donated to research.

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla ChanAP

Zuckerberg and Chan have poured billions into research focused on curing the world’s diseases by the end of the century. In order to accomplish this lofty goal, CZI launched a nonprofit called Biohub to start looking into the cure for disease, including research on genomics, infectious diseases, and implantable devices.

Source: Insider, Insider

Zuckerberg believes that Biohub will help speed up research to cure disease.

Mark Zuckerberg

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

He told The New Yorker in 2018 that “we’ll basically have been able to manage or cure all of the major things that people suffer from and die from today. Based on the data that we already see, it seems like there’s a reasonable shot.”

Source: The New Yorker

Zuckerberg’s day job is still keeping him busy, however.

mark zuckerberg

Hannah McKay-Pool/Getty Images

In the past couple of years alone, he’s testified before lawmakers, attempted to quash coronavirus misinformation on Facebook, and suspended former President Donald Trump from the platform.

Source: Insider, Insider, Insider, Insider

Then there were the whistleblowers.

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen testifies to Senate committee

The Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen testified to a Senate committee.Matt McClain/Getty Images

In 2021, two former employees came forward with allegations that the company’s leadership consistently chose profits over safety.

One of the whistleblowers, Frances Haugen, leaked a trove of internal documents, known as the Facebook Papers, that detailed internal challenges like the company’s impact on teenagers and how it’s grappled with hate speech.

Source: Insider, Insider

In come the ‘Metamates’

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announcing Meta

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announcing the Meta rebrand on Thursday.Eric Risberg/AP Photo

In October 2021, Facebook officially changed its corporate name to Meta to reflect its new focus on the metaverse, a virtual space where users can interact digitally as avatars.

“From now on, we’ll be metaverse first, not Facebook first,” Zuckerberg said at the time.

Source: Insider

Meanwhile, Zuckerberg’s wealth has soared.

Mark Zuckerberg Paris. France 2019

Getty

Back in August 2020, the launch of a new Instagram feature designed to compete with TikTok sent both the company’s share price and Zuckerberg’s net worth to new heights.

The move caused Zuckerberg’s net worth to exceed $100 million for the first time, making him one of 10 centi-billionaires on Earth.

These days, he’s worth $64.6 billion, according to Forbes.

Source: Bloomberg

Tanza Loudenback, Taylor Nicole Rogers, and Liz Knueven contributed to an earlier version of this story.

Read the original article on Business Insider