With the ever-growing popularity of the internet, a lot of platforms emerge with a promise to cater to the needs and demands of its users. And while many of them try to keep the attention of their users, only a few managed to remain at the top. One of these is Facebook– a social networking platform that connects people, friends, and family regardless of where they are.
Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004 with the help of his three classmates at Harvard University. In 2012, the platform was released to the public and eventually became one of the largest companies all over the world.
It is no secret that Facebook is the largest social media platform in the world. As of the end of 2019, the platform recorded more than 2.5 billion active monthly users. Perhaps, the popularity of this platform is due to its ability to connect people with one another regardless of where they are. Are these stockholders of Facebook buying Facebook likes on their own pages?
Moreover, Facebook is also the owner of the famous photo-sharing platform Instagram and the messaging apps Messanger and WhatsApp.
As of April 14, 2020, Facebook has a total of $507.92 billion worth of market capitalization. So, without a doubt, the platform can be considered as a tech giant.
Moreover, below are five of the top shareholders who are behind Facebook. Their ranking is based on the number of shares that they owned. As of the time of writing, one of Facebook’s top shareholders is its co-founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. On the other hand, the remaining four are all investment management companies.
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook when he was 23 years old. Back then, he was studying psychology at Harvard University. Zuckerberg was a keen computer programmer. He was able to develop several social networking websites for Harvard. Some of the sites he created were Coursematch, a tool that students can use to view the profile of people who have the same degree as them. Another tool that he created was Facemash, which is used to rate the attractiveness of people.
Zuckerberg is by far the largest Facebook shareholder. He has been the company’s longtime CEO and chairman. At 35 years old, the Facebook co-founder ranked seventh in the Forbes World’s Billionaires List with a total of $54.7 billion of net worth.
Currently, Zuckerberg holds more than 400 million shares of Facebook. This equates to a market value of more or less $82.2 billion. Due to his massive amount of shares, Zuckerberg was given a disproportionate share of voting rights. For this reason, he now controls 57.9 percent of the total voting rights. Meaning, he has total and effective control over the company.
Vanguard Group Inc.
Vanguard is considered as one of the largest investment management companies in the world. It has around 425 low-cost traditional funds as well as exchange-traded funds or ETFs.
Moreover, the firm has about $6.2 trillion placed in global assets under management.
One of the firm’s largest ETFs is the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO). It amounts to around $130 billion in AUM.
The funds of this firm hold an estimated 184.0 million of shares on Facebook. This is combined with around $37.7 billion of market value, making Vanguard take the number two spot in Facebook’s top shareholders.
BlackRock Inc.
BlackRock Inc. was founded by Laurence Fink, a former mortgage bond trader in 1988 as a financial management group under Blackstone Group, a private equity firm. It is a New York-based American global investment management corporation.
Back in its beginning, BlackRock INc. was an eight-person startup. Over the years, it evolved and became one of the largest global companies trusted for their asset management and investment management.
This company is one of the leading asset and investment management companies in the world. In estimation, BlackRock has $6.47 trillion in AUM.
BlackRock offers a vast array of iShare ETFs, mutual funds, as well as closed-end funds. It’s iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) is one of the largest ETFs of the company.BlackRock’s IVV has approximately $180.3 billion in AUM. Moreover, this firm has around 158.2 million shares of Facebook. This amount of shares is combined with a total of $32.3 billion market value.
FMR LLC
FMR LLC or Fidelity Management & Research was founded by Edward C. Johnson ll in 1930. When it was founded, the company served non-US markets. But in 1980, it was spun off by its employees into an independent entity.
FMR was founded as Fidelity Shares by Anderson & Cromwell (now Cromwell & Cabot)– a Boston management firm.
Now, this firm is among the largest companies in the nation. It offers retirement options, financial planning, investment management, brokerage, as well as wealth management services. FMR LLC also owns Fidelity Investments, an investment management firm that has an estimated $2.5 trillion in AUM in total.
One of the largest ETFs that this firm has is the Fidelity MSCI Information Technology Index ETF (FTEC). This ETF has $3.2 billion in AUM.
Moreover, FRM LLC holds an estimated amount of 123.6 million Facebook shares. This is combined with $26.1 billion of market value.
T.Rowe Price Associates Inc.
Founded by Thomas Rowe Price, Jr. in Baltimore, this company began under the name T.Rowe Price & Associates in 1937. Throughout the years, it successfully became one of the largest and most sought after investment management company.
This is an investment management company that offers portfolio management, fixed income, equities, asset allocation, as well as financial advisory services. Approximately, T.Rowe Price Associates Inc. has $1.2 trillion in AUM.
One of the largest mutual funds of the company is the T.Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth Fund (TRBCX) which has $60.2 billion in AUM.
Around 107.8 million is the total amount of shares T.Rowe Price firm has on Facebook. It is combined with a total market value of $22.1 billion.
