A Bad Day in Bedrock for Meta, What Does It Mean?

Last Thursday, February 3rd, my friends over at Meta (Habit keeps me typing “Facebook” first.) announced the minor matter of a $10 billion (with a “b”) loss for 2021 for its Metaverse business.

The stock tanked 26% for a loss of more than $230 billion and Zuck himself lost about $30 billion off his net worth.

Let’s talk about this!

Two major factor contributed to this.

First, Meta spent $10 billion on the Metaverse and then Apple has changed its privacy policies on its iPhones which will shave about $10 billion in ad revenue from Meta this year.

(Yet, people will still insist that Big Tech is colluding together against us!)

The first point is the one that I’m most interested in because that’s the self-inflicted wound by Meta.

A CNBC article recently said that Reality Labs (Meta’s Metaverse business) could be spending like this for fifteen years before this becomes a viable business.

Meanwhile, frenemies like Apple are having Meta’s dinner.

Why do I bring this up?

Well, for one thing, many of us rely on Facebook for a portion of our earnings.

(To say nothing of those wild and crazy cat memes and videos!)

And, for another, could we be seeing the beginning of the end for Meta?

Like, for example, for those of us who grew up with Sears, did we ever expect them to end as they are?

Back in the day, I was in the software business.

(I’m talking mainframe here and, yes, I know, I’m dating myself.)

I noticed that some of the early successful developers, who’d created great products, built companies, and then sold them off, would try to come back for a second act.

It rarely ended well.

Honestly, the only one I ever heard of was Steve Jobs at Apple. 

(Yes, I know he wasn’t a mainframe guy.  I’m trying to make a point here!)

Why do I take you down this jaunt along Memory Lane?

I do because is Zuck maybe doing the same thing here?

He’s had his moment in the sun.

He’s now looking for his second act.

He’s on a buying binge.

Anyone remember when Sears bought a brokerage firm, a realtor, and an insurance company among other things?

The business press at the time was full of stories about the daring, new business model and all that it meant for the future.

Where is Sears now?

I rest my case.

I do think that there is a possible case for the future of the Metaverse.

I’m just not sure that Mark “Spend Billions” Zuckerberg is the guy who’s going to lead us to its Promised Land.

Many of the components of the failed Sears organization have been sold off and are parts of other successful businesses now.

(Pity the poor workers who have been through all these “transformations.”)

I suspect that many of Zuck’s new toys will suffer the same fate, sold off, and trying to forget where they came from.

That’s it for now!

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