Forbes 400 Highlights Downward Trend For Mark Zuckerberg

The Forbes 400 list was good for Mark Zuckerberg, on the surface at least.

The Facebook founder made the list of the world’s richest people at No. 36 with a total net worth of $9.4 billion — still good for a person who less than a decade ago was a college student with a brilliant idea for a new website.

But a closer look shows the downward trend Zuckerberg has been on in the past few months. Just last year he took the No. 14 spot on the Forbes 400 list, PCMag.com noted, where he had $17.5 billion. The $8.1 billion of net worth Zuckerberg lost in one year is more than nearly everyone on the list has in total, and comes at a bad time for Facebook, which has seen a disappointing debut for its stock.

Earlier this month Zuckerberg spoke at a tech conference in California and addressed the company’s disappointing stock performance. But he appeared to take it as a challenge for the ever-growing company to improve, Slate reported.

Zuckerberg told the conference:

“I would rather be in a cycle where people underestimate us. I think it gives us the latitude to go out and make some big bets. Facebook has not been an uncontroversial company. It’s not like this is the first up and down we have ever had. We have a pretty good compass. I always like to think that when folks are being too nice, we aren’t as good as they say they are. And when the media is being too critical, we are not as bad as they say we are.”

Zuckerberg may have fallen off, but tech magnates were well represented on the list. As PCMag.com noted, the Forbes 400 list was filled with others who made their fortune in computer software. Bil Gates topped the list, as he has for nearly the past 20 years, and Oracle owner Larry Ellison took the No. 3 spot.