by Elton Gomes
Although Facebook has received considerable flak for its involvement in unwanted activity, founder Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune has been growing. Zuckerberg is now the world’s third-richest person, behind Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. This means that all the three richest persons have tapped into technology to create a fortune. WhatsApp has also been tapping into technology and research to curb rampant misuse in India.
Here are other important business stories you might have missed this past week.
Mukesh Ambani named head of Reliance for another five years
Reliance Industries’ shareholders have consented to give Mukesh Ambani five more years as Chairman and Managing Director of the company. At the company’s 41st annual general body meet on July 5, the company presented a resolution to re-appoint Ambani ”for a period of five years, on expiry of his present term of office, i e with effect from April 19, 2019.” As per the resolution, Ambani will receive an annual salary of Rs 4.1 crore and Rs 59 lakh of allowances. Additionally, Ambani will be entitled to receive bonuses on the basis of net profits and “expenses incurred for travelling, boarding and lodging, including for spouse and attendant(s) during business trips and provision of car(s) for use on company’s business and communication expenses at residence shall be reimbursed at actuals and not considered as perquisites,” as per the resolution. Mukesh Ambani was elected as Chairman after the death of his father Dhirubhai Ambani in July 6, 2012, whereas his younger brother Anil was chosen as Vice Chairman and managing director.
WhatsApp to fund researchers to combat fake news menace
In an attempt to curb the spread of fake news via WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned company is reportedly planning to fund researchers willing to study the spread of fake information. Under the ‘WhatsApp Research Awards for Social Science and Misinformation’ initiative, the company stated that it will be “commissioning a competitive set of awards to researchers interested in exploring issues that are related to misinformation on WhatsApp. The WhatsApp Research Awards will provide funding for independent research proposals that are designed to be shared with WhatsApp, Facebook, and wider scholarly and policy communities.” WhatsApp will be offering up to $50,000 for research proposals that ”foster insights into the impact of technology on contemporary society in this problem space”, which includes election-related content, and “detection of problematic behavior within encrypted systems.” WhatsApp is facing serious heat after several rumours on the platform have led to a spate of lynchings in India.
Mark Zuckerberg surpasses Warren Buffett to become third-richest person in the world
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg overtook Warren Buffett to become the world’s third-richest person. Zuckerberg finds himself behind Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. For the first time, the world’s top three richest persons have all made their fortune from technology. Zuckerberg is currently worth $81.6 billion dollars, roughly $373 million more than Buffett. It seems that Facebook’s involvement in several data scandals has not affected Zuckerberg’s fortune. The social media company was involved in a data scandal with UK firm Cambridge Analytica. It was further alleged that Facebook had a “role” to play in the Rohingya genocide and in fermenting violence in Sri Lanka. Zuckerberg has also faced questions as to whether his company had any influence on the Brexit vote and the 2016 US general elections.
Elton Gomes is a staff writer at Qrius