This archive report was first published on 5 October 2021.
Facebook's stock took a massive hit on Monday evening, plummeting 15 percent, after the social media giant suffered a series of outages across its platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram.
According to Bloomberg, Facebook's stock dropped from $140 billion to $121 billion within just a few weeks, resulting in a loss of around $7 billion for CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
As a result, Zuckerberg's rank dropped to number 5 in the list of the world's richest people, just after Bill Gates.
The outages come at a time when Facebook is facing intense scrutiny over its handling of user data and its impact on mental health, particularly among young women.
Documents leaked by a whistleblower have alleged that Facebook was aware of the potential harm caused by Instagram, but chose to prioritize profits over user well-being.
Facebook has responded to the allegations, stating that the issues are complex and cannot be solely attributed to technology.
The whistleblower is set to testify before the US Senate in the coming hours, which could lead to further scrutiny of the company's practices.
