Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) has rolled out new premium subscription tiers across several of its social media platforms, sending shares higher and boosting CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s personal fortune.
Zuckerberg’s net worth jumped $7.9 billion in a single day, the largest single-day wealth gain among the world’s richest billionaires on that date.
The surge pushed Zuckerberg’s overall net worth to approximately $225 billion, placing him sixth among the world’s wealthiest individuals, according to Bloomberg estimates.
Despite the single-day gain, Zuckerberg’s wealth remains down $7.8 billion year-to-date, with Meta stock also still down 2.3% over the same period.
The gains come after a difficult March, during which Zuckerberg saw his wealth fall by $46.3 billion alongside a significant decline in Meta’s share price.
Meta stock climbed 3.7% to $635.26 on the day of the announcement, trading within its 52-week range of $520.26 to $796.25.
The company introduced Instagram Plus at $3.99 per month, Facebook Plus at $3.99 per month, and WhatsApp Plus at $2.99 per month, each offering enhanced features for active and super users.
New features include profile customization, super reactions, and story insights, with the company promising “more fun features” to come, according to TechCrunch.
Meta is also testing professional plans for businesses and creators, along with AI-themed subscription tiers, including a future Meta One Plus plan at $7.99 per month and Meta One Premium at $19.99 per month.
While Meta AI will remain free for all users, the premium AI plans will offer additional features for users requiring heavier usage and compute, with testing expected to begin next month in select markets.
Rosenblatt analyst Barton Crockett maintained a Buy rating on Meta with a price target of $1,015, calling the subscription push a significant revenue opportunity.
“Based on traction at Snap and OpenAI, this looks like a multi-billion dollar revenue opportunity,” Crockett said.
Crockett noted that Snap’s similar subscription offering has surpassed 25 million subscribers and reached an annual run rate of $1 billion.
The new AI subscription plans are described as comparable to OpenAI’s plans, which have attracted over 50 million subscribers at a rate of $5 to $8 per month.
“Meta likely earns ~$1B ARR now from the Verified subscription plans and the ad-free plan in Europe, under 1% of its global sales,” Crockett said, adding that “vaulting to multi-billions of subscription sales is certainly possible, given massive scale at 3.56 billion daily active users that can be marketed in-app.”
