CEO Mark Zuckerberg had once criticized the proprietary AirPods protocol of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), advocating for it to be made accessible to competitors.

Bill Gates predicted the iPod’s dominance wouldn’t last long—years before smartphones took over. His surprising forecast revealed why Apple’s iconic device faced an inevitable challenge.

Zuckerberg has increased his net worth by $17.3 billion since the beginning of 2025, while the rest of the top four—Musk, Bezos, and Oracle founder Larry Ellison—have all seen losses. Zuckerberg's net ...