Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, is in "big, big trouble". Gone in 2022 is $71bn of Mark Zuckerberg's own wealth, tied up in the social network even as it tries desperately to make Virtual Reality happen. While big tech is having a rough time in general, with Apple and Tesla volatile and Microsoft and Amazon down sharply, Meta is in freefall, losing 60% of its value this year. All that said, he's still stinkin' rich—and the world's twentieth wealthiest person.
no one, not even crypto CEO Changpeng Zhao, has seen a wipeout on the scale of Zuckerberg. … The company's pivot to the Metaverse underscores the trouble with its traditional business model, which relies on selling massive amounts of advertising against very specific user data. Apple iOS 14 changes last year that made tracking harder for advertisers took a big bite out of Meta's earning power. Among social media companies, Meta and Snap rely the most on users on iOS, said Angelo Zino, an analyst at CFRA who covers social media companies. He pointed to Google parent Alphabet, whose earnings have held up better "because they're not as exposed to the iOS changes," he said.
Zuckerberg and VR: the ultimate story of a millennial becoming obsessed with Gen X bullshit and burning out on it.
Correction: Zuckerberg is the twentieth richest person in the world, not the third. Boing Boing is delighted by the error.
