Facebook wiped out a staggering $151 billion in a single day

Shares of social media giant Facebook wiped out a staggering $151 billion in a single day, higher than the market value of India’s most valued firm TCS as well as Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries. Notably, TCS recently became the first Indian IT firm to cross the coveted $100 billion in market capitalisation, soon followed by Reliance Industries to reclaim that amount, after the shares surged to record highs recently on the back of the firm’s AGM. Notably, the centibillionaire firm had earlier breached this mark in intra-day trade on October 18, 2007.

The fall in the shares of Facebook amount to the biggest stock rout in the history of American stock market. Interestingly, at close, the Facebook shares were at all-time high. However, the firm reported disappointing second-quarter earnings and forecasts. Shares tumbled, wiping up to $140 billion off the company’s value, in one of the largest aftermarket drops ever. Market capitalisation of the social media giant stood at $629 billion as of Wednesday’s close, with chief executive Mark Zuckerberg seeing nearly $17 billion of his personal stake wiped out.

According to a Bloomberg report, Intel Corp. lost about $91 billion on one September day in 2000, in one of the biggest single stock routs in recent times. Similarly, Exxon Mobil Corp., already reeling from the financial crisis and recession in October 2008, lost $53 billion one wretched Wednesday that month.

While Facebook’s stock rout is huge in of itself, owner Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune tumble too is unprecedented. For Mark Zuckerberg, it’s just about 20% of his net worth. If the rout holds through Thursday’s close, he will slide to sixth place from third on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. It would also wipe his $13.7 billion of gains for the year, leaving him with just less than $70 billion, said a Bloomberg report. To put the tumble into perspective, Zuckerberg’s one day loss of $16.8 billion would have wiped out 87 percent of the billionaires in Bloomberg’s index.