Facebook lost about $119 billion of its value on Thursday, marking the biggest one-day loss in U.S. market history. The company’s shares plunged $41.24, or almost 19 percent, to $176.26 a day after the social media giant reported disappointing results. The slide is the largest decline in market capitalization in history, exceeding Intel’s $91 billion single-day loss in September 2000. Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg saw his fortune drop by $15.9 billion to roughly $71 billion. Investors were influenced by Facebook’s forecast showing that its number of active users is growing less quickly than expected. The report, which marked Facebook’s first full quarter since the Cambridge Analytica scandal, startled investors with a bevy of red flags about setbacks to its revenue and user growth. The share collapse merely returned Facebook shares to a level last seen in early May. At that time, the stock was still recovering from an earlier battering over a major privacy scandal.
Editorial credit: Frederic Legrand – COMEO / Shutterstock.com