In the real world, Mark Zuckerberg’s foray into the metaverse has cost him dearly.
Even in a challenging year for almost all US tech giants, the money lost by Meta Platforms Inc. stands out. With a $71 billion decline so far this year, the highest among the ultra-rich people monitored by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his fortune has been reduced by half and then some. Aside from three Waltons and two Koch family members, his net worth of $55.9 billion makes him 20th among all billionaires in the world, his lowest ranking since 2014.
Only Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates command larger fortunes than Zuckerberg, 38, who was worth $106 billion less than two years ago. His fortune peaked at $142 billion in September 2021, when the company’s shares reached $382.
The following month, Zuckerberg introduced Meta and renamed the company Facebook Inc. From there, it’s been mostly downhill as it tries to find its footing in the tech world.
Its most recent earnings reports have been dismal. It began in February, when the company revealed no growth in monthly Facebook users, triggering a historic drop in its stock price and slashing Zuckerberg’s fortune by $31 billion, one of the largest one-day declines in wealth ever. Other issues include Instagram’s bet on Reels, its answer to TikTok’s short-form video platform, despite the fact that it is worth less in advertising revenue, while the industry as a whole has been affected by lower marketing spending due to concerns about an economic slowdown.
According to Laura Martin, senior internet analyst at Needham & Co., the company’s investments in the metaverse are also weighing on the stock. According to Zuckerberg, the project will lose “significant” money over the next three to five years.
Meanwhile, according to Martin, Meta “must get these users back from TikTok.” According to her, it is also hampered by “excessive regulatory scrutiny and intervention.”
If it weren’t for its virtual reality venture, the social media behemoth “would be more in line with where Alphabet is,” according to Mandeep Singh, a technology analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. He suggested that Meta could avoid this problem by spinning off some of its other businesses, such as WhatsApp or Instagram.
Meta stock holds nearly all of Zuckerberg’s wealth. According to the most recent proxy statement, he owns over 350 million shares. At 12:22 p.m. in New York, the price had remained unchanged at $146.18.
Zuckerberg has tried to rebrand himself. In a three-hour interview on Joe Rogan’s podcast, he repeatedly referred to himself as a “product designer” and uploaded a video of himself practising mixed martial arts.
