In a case of the rich getting richer, and by that, we mean, filthy rich, Facebook announced it made $1.6 billion in the first half of 2011 — about double what it made in 2010′s first six months. This means world’s No. 1 social-networking site garnered about $500 million in net income, putting it on track to make $1 billion in net come for 2011.How did Facebook earn such riches? Well, no one really knows for sure. Some of it came through advertising. Facebook also gets 30-percent from the sale of virtual goods. All those e-farmers out there on Farmville fill Mark Zuckerberg’s coffers at an astounding rate. Later this year, Facebook will add music services from Spotify and Rhapsody, sure to bring more users to the site, and with them comes more ad revenue.
Let’s put Zuckerberg’s riches into some perspective. Whenever Facebook decides to issue an IPO — no rush, guys — it’ll receive a valuation between $70 to $80 billion, which makes Zuckerberg’s share worth about $18 billion. This puts him behind Larry Ellison and Bill Gates. But he’s richer than the Queen of England, who’s worth about $500 million. We confidently assume that Zuckerberg is quite amused with that.
Read more from Reuters.
