Mark Zuckerberg, once the world’s youngest billionaire, lost 88 billion in net worth over the last year. Meta, Facebook’s parent company, is in rapid free-fall.
One of the wealthiest men to ever live remained so unfulfilled with the materiality of his riches that devotes his mind to escape this world. No, it is not the incipit of a Greek myth. It is precisely what Mark Zuckerberg is trying to do with the Metaverse. But, just like in every immortal myth, the greedy man is coming to grips with reality.
Precisely one year ago, Facebook was one of the biggest companies in history. It was one of the six businesses to be worth over a trillion dollars, and the number of subscribers was approaching a third of the human population. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, also owned Instagram and WhatsApp, two of the most used social networks in their own right.
Then, Mark Zuckerberg decided to invest everything in one big, life-changing project that, in his vision, would change humanity forever: the Metaverse. A virtual space where everyone would conduct a parallel life to that on planet Earth. A concept similar to Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One, except it wouldn’t be a dystopian hellscape.
Since then, every effort of Zuckerberg was focused on the Metaverse. Investors, however, are skeptical. The Metaverse, one year after his announcement, doesn’t seem to appeal to the general population. And this is bad news for Zuckerberg.
From riches to rags
In the year following the birth of Meta (a new name appointed by Zuckerberg to his holdings), its value fell almost 70%. From over a trillion dollars to less than 300 billion, the same amount Facebook was worth in 2016.
Meta shares are now being traded at less than 100 dollars, and the fall is predicted to continue well into next year. Cash flow into the company has been non-existent in recent months. In September 2021, when Facebook peaked, revenues amounted for over 9 billion dollars. In September 2022, a year later, they were down to 173 million. Slightly more than a rounding error.
And as the rats are abandoning the ships, with investors leaving left and right (Meta revenues/share for 2023 have been slashed), Zuckerberg doesn’t budge. He wants to finish his Metaverse project, no matter what the cost will be.
In a recent investors meeting, he said that Meta was “going in the right direction”. But Meta doesn’t have to deal only with its own internal struggles. TikTok is gaining more and more subscribers (briefly becoming the most visited site in the World last month). Twitter is undergoing a massive change with the Elon Musk acquisition.
Zuckerberg is a modern King Mida. Everything he touched turned into gold, but his own greed will be his awful demise.
