Following news of a massive data scandal involving more than 50 million Facebook users, Mark Zuckerberg is likely having a very bad day.
The Facebook’s co-founder and CEO lost $6.06 billion in stock value, according to CNBC, when reports that Cambridge Analytica, a firm hired by Donald Trump’s campaign during the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, improperly used the social network’s user data.
The 33-year-old may not consider himself too scathed as a result of the loss — he and his affiliated organizations still own approximately 403 million shares of Facebook stock worth around $68.5 billion, an Equilar research director told CNBC. Zuckerberg remains fourth on Bloomberg’s Billionaire’s Index and sixth on a similar list by Forbes.
But Facebook as a whole has still taken a financial hit as a result of the reports, losing $35 billion in market value, Coins2Day reported earlier Monday. The company’s shares dropped by 6% for a market capitalization of roughly $502.6 billion.
On Friday, Facebook announced that it was suspending Cambridge Analytica and its parent company Strategic Communication Laboratories from the platform. Facebook says that contrary to reports, “the claim that this is a data breach is completely false” and that “no systems were infiltrated.” Zuckerberg has yet to personally address the reports.
