In the S&P 500, 33 companies have unequal voting rights similar to those at Meta, according to ISS Corporate Solutions, including Google parent Alphabet Inc., Paramount Global, and Comcast Corp.
Zuckerberg’s stake means he has been hit especially hard by the stock’s collapse. Over the past 13 months, his total wealth loss has exceeded $100 billion. His apparent willingness to stomach such losses is a sign of his faith in the metaverse, and if the bet does play out, investors may one day look back with relief that Zuckerberg wasn’t forced to change course.
Zuckerberg deserves the benefit of the doubt, said Mark Iong, a fund manager at Homestead Advisers.
“He took Facebook public when it had huge margins, so he clearly cares about making money. He waited years to monetize WhatsApp, so he’s clearly patient. And he bought Instagram early, so he’s clearly smart,” he said. “I think he’s earned the right to pursue this long-term strategy.”
Meta shares sank 24% last week, the biggest one-week drop on record for the company, which went public a decade ago. The collapse even exceeded a 21% crash in the first week of February, when another disastrous earnings report vaporized $251.3 billion in market value in a single session. Due to how much the stock has already declined this year, last week’s drop translated to $86.4 billion in lost market value.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.