After declining about US$20 billion in 2018, Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune is bouncing back.

Facebook Inc. shares jumped Thursday in New York trading -- increasing his net worth by about US$4.6 billion -- after the social-networking firm reported first-quarter earnings Wednesday night that won near-unanimous praise from Wall Street analysts. That brings his year-to-date advance to US$24 billion, the most of anyone on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

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Zuckerberg’s gain tops that of Bernard Arnault, who has seen his fortune increase US$23 billion in 2019. Jeff Bezos would have topped both except for the finalization of his divorce from MacKenzie Bezos, which cut his net worth by US$36 billion this month and wiped out his 2019 gains.

Facebook shares were up 7.2 per cent to US$195.78 at 9:55 a.m. and have climbed 49 per cent this year.