Zuckerberg Wealth increases by 12.4 billion dollars

Wealth and co- chief executive of Facebook , Mark Zuckerberg rose 12.4 billion dollars last year , earning more than any other executive in the technology field , not counting Bill Gates , according to data released this week by billionaire index Bloomberg . Zuckerberg currently has 24.5 billion dollars .

Zuckerberg has now taken steps to give some of that money back . For the second consecutive year , he and his wife Priscilla Chan donated 18 million shares of Facebook for charity . This year , those shares are worth about $ 1 billion . Zuckerberg has also signed a pledge in 2010 , to give most of his wealth to charity during his lifetime .

According Index billionaire executives and others have gained more during 2013 . Gates , the former chief executive of Microsoft who now focuses on philanthropic efforts , earned 15.8 billion dollars , thanks to increased shares of Microsoft . Meanwhile , Elon Musk wealth grew by 233 % during the year , the largest increase in percentage , thanks to the large increase in shares of Tesla .

The increase is due, shares of Facebook , which has doubled during 2013 . Facebook shares began the year at 27.44 dollars a share and ended at 54.65 dollars , thanks to the mobile platform .