Mark Zuckerberg’s estimated fortune fell by billions of dollars on Monday, September 28, as Meta shares extended their decline amid questions about the returns on artificial intelligence investment. Forbes’ real-time billionaire tracker listed his wealth at approximately $248 billion, down $9.6 billion, or 3.74%, from its previous trading-day benchmark.
Meta shares were trading at $721.40 at 2:40 p.m. Eastern time, down approximately 4.03%. Those figures were intraday readings, not closing results.
The retreat coincided with a major expansion of Meta’s business ambitions. The company announced that MongoDB chief executive Chirantan “CJ” Desai would lead a new enterprise division focused on bringing its AI products to corporate customers.
AI investment returns come under scrutiny
Monday’s decline followed a reversal on Friday, September 25, when Meta shares fell after an upbeat session fueled by enthusiasm for its Muse AI agent. The Motley Fool linked Friday’s selling to Goldman Sachs’ analysis of the revenue needed to support the technology industry’s substantial infrastructure spending.
According to that report, Goldman estimated that major AI infrastructure companies would collectively need about $300 billion in annual AI-services revenue just to break even on investments already made or planned. That is an analyst estimate covering a group of companies—not a revenue target issued by Meta.
Meta’s own spending plans illustrate the scale of the investment. In its second-quarter results, the company projected 2026 capital expenditures of $130 billion to $145 billion, including principal payments on finance leases. The figure represents company-wide capital spending, rather than a separately reported AI-only budget.
The same results showed revenue rising 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, while costs and expenses increased 55% to $42 billion. Operating income declined 8% to approximately $18.8 billion. Those figures provide a broader backdrop to the debate over how quickly new investments can generate additional earnings.
Meta recruits MongoDB chief for enterprise AI business
Desai will become Meta’s chief enterprise platform officer, reporting directly to Zuckerberg. The new division, Meta Enterprise Platform, will initially focus on bringing Muse, Meta Business Agent, Muse API and Muse Code to businesses and developers.
Zuckerberg described the initiative as “the next major pillar of our business.” Desai said the division would turn Meta’s AI technology into products and services that companies can deploy in their own operations.
The appointment brings Meta an executive with experience selling and developing business software. Before joining MongoDB, Desai led product and engineering at Cloudflare and spent nearly eight years at ServiceNow, including as president and chief operating officer.
MongoDB shares fall following leadership change
MongoDB shares dropped 18% in Monday morning trading following the departure, Reuters reported. Desai had held the chief executive position for less than a year. Piper Sandler characterized the market reaction as overdone, while acknowledging disappointment over his exit.
The database software company appointed former chief executive Dev Ittycheria as interim president and CEO, effective immediately, and began searching for a permanent replacement. It also reaffirmed its guidance for the third quarter and full fiscal year 2027.
For Zuckerberg, the decline represents a change in estimated wealth tied largely to the market value of his Meta holdings—not a cash payment or a realized loss from selling shares. Forbes estimates that he owns approximately 13% of the company, leaving his personal fortune closely exposed to movements in its stock price.
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