Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg has seen a boost in his net worth following the release of his company’s augmented reality (AR) glasses, Orion, last week.
Zuckerberg was worth $194 billion before the release of Orion on 25 September, but is currently worth a whopping $196 billion as of 30 September.
The increase in his net worth isn’t surprising, as Meta’s stocks have seen a modest +4.82 rise at press time on 30 September. Zuckerberg’s net worth initially rose to $201 billion, making him the 4th richest man in the world before dropping to $196 billion at the 5th position.
Orion AR glasses: A huge milestone
Meta has taken giant strides since it rebranded from Facebook to Meta in 2021. The company has ventured into several aspects of technology since then, notably Metaverse and artificial intelligence (AI).
The release of AR smart glasses is indeed one of the high points of the company’s growth. Although still in the development phase, the glasses are an innovative breakthrough in the world of eyewear.
Armed with micro projectors that create a virtual heads-up display (HUD) on real-world objects, they take immersive reality to a whole new level. With this, Meta could be on its way to more relevance in the world of AR going forward.
Progress despite challenges
Meta’s historic AR glasses launch has brought much attention to the company. However, it hasn’t been all fun.
Around the same time that the company launched the glasses, the Irish Data Protection Commission slammed the company with a $92 million fine for saving users’ passwords in plain text.
The agency made the decision following the completion of an investigation it launched into Meta in April 2019 after Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (MPIL) said it had stored certain passwords of social media users in ‘plaintext’.
Similarly, the agency had fined Meta in May to the tune of $1.3 billion for transferring EU users’ data to the United States in violation of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a landmark data privacy law enacted by the EU in 2016.
