The Facebook CEO warned his employees that he might cry from a scratched eye during a virtual company-wide meeting Thursday after the social media giant lost $237 billion – the most extensive loss in a single day in Facebook history.
Meta, the owner of Facebook, fell 26 percent Thursday when the markets closed after issuing a dismal forecast and reported its first decline in daily active users. At least $29.7 billion of Zuckerberg‘s net worth was erased.
With a net worth of $113.1 billion, the tech titan was the seventh wealthiest person in the world on Wednesday. n Thursday, his net worth fell to $83.4 billion, dropping him to No. 12 on Forbes’ list of billionaires.
The stock closed at $237.76 per share, sparking concern in international markets and pulling the tech-heavy Nasdaq down by 3.74 percent.
According to Zuckerberg, the decline was due to weak revenue forecasts and an ‘unprecedented level of competition’ from TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance.
According to someone who attended the meeting, the 37-year-old billionaire wore glasses and appeared red-eyed. Zuckerberg told his employees he might cry because he scratched his eye, not because the stock dropped.
Facebook’s decline marked its worst one-day loss since it debuted on Wall Street in 2012, and broader markets declined worldwide.
The Dow ended the day with a loss of 518 points, or 1.45 percent. Here was a 2.44 percent drop in the S&P 500 and a 3.74 percent drop on the Nasdaq. In addition to Nasdaq and S&P, Facebook is a component of those two indices.
Zuckerberg told a person who wasn’t authorized to speak about the company’s meeting considering offering long weekends. However, a four-day workweek wouldn’t be productive, he added.
Employees should take advantage of their vacation days.
A person familiar with the company’s plans told AdAge that employee shares vest on February 15, meaning that if they stay through that date, they will be able to earn shares. Also, conversations about bonuses and raises occur in March, potentially influencing workers’ decisions to leave.
Tech companies in the United States face mounting pressure in 2022 as investors expect the Fed to erode the industry’s high valuations after years of ultra-low interest rates.
As competition with rivals like TikTok, the video-sharing platform owned by Chinese company ByteDance, heats up, the Nasdaq plummeted more than 8 percent in January, its steepest monthly drop since the end of 2019.
According to Meta, about 3 percent of monthly active users in the fourth quarter were only violating accounts, while duplicate accounts accounted for about 11 percent.
