Facebook Inc. chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, who is expected to announce a $100 million donation to Newark, N.J., public schools today, posted the largest percentage increase in wealth of any individual on Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of the 400 wealthiest Americans.
Zuckerberg, 26, saw his wealth jump 245 percent to $6.9 billion.
The rankings, released Wed nesday, place Zuckerberg at No. 35.
His wealth is largely based on the estimated value of Facebook, which claims more than 500 million users worldwide and estimated revenue topping $2 billion.
Investors value Facebook at more than $20 billion, and Zuckerberg reportedly owns more than a quarter of the company’s stock.
Because his wealth is largely on paper — Facebook hasn’t yet gone public — some questions have been raised as to how, exactly, Zuckerberg will fund his donation.
Forbes blogger Steven Bertoni noted in a post Thursday that Zuckerberg probably has little cash on hand.
“It’s natural that he’d pledge his Facebook shares instead of cash-money,” Bertoni wrote on his Money Talks blog.
“The trouble is that these shares are not listed on a registered exchange,” Bertoni wrote. “Past Facebook transactions have occurred through private equity deals or have traded on exchanges like SecondMarket, which specialize in unregistered, hard-to-trade securities.”
