Mark Zuckerberg got $11 billion richer today

Nearly two months after losing his place among the ten wealthiest people globally, Mark Zuckerberg is making a comeback.

Shares of Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, rose more than 17 percent on Thursday, adding nearly $11 billion for Zuckerberg in one day.

Although Meta missed Wall Street's first-quarter earnings forecasts and reported its slowest revenue growth in years, investors celebrated the shift in user numbers a leading indicator for advertisers.

Thursday's dizzying reaction was stark contrast to Meta's poor fourth-quarter results, which sent stocks tumbling in early February in the biggest one-day crash in Wall Street history. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the loss also propelled Zuckerberg, who owns 13 percent of Meta, from 9th place among the world's wealthiest people.

As of late Wednesday, Zuckerberg was ranked 18th with a net worth of $65 billion. However, Thursday's rally is expected to knock him down in some places, bringing his net worth to an estimated $76 billion.

Despite Meta (FB) rising on Thursday, the stock remains 39% lower for the year and faces a tough challenge. The company is battling competitors like TikTok, struggling to generate revenue from the popular video content, and facing disruption to its core advertising business due to changes in Apple's privacy practices.

Meta also notes that the Russian war has hit its business in Ukraine - Facebook and Instagram were suspended in Russia last month - and expects that challenge to continue this quarter.