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☆ Mark Zuckerberg's Meta wants to burst Apple's blue bubbles: WhatsApp is coming for iMessage in the US
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Getty ImagesThe Meta CEO reigns over an empire of social media apps that will be familiar to many Americans. Facebook bought the instant messaging app for $19 billion back in 2014, and has been able to turn it into a mega-hit across the world ever since. Such features seem to be of interest to businesses: WhatsApp's daily business users jumped 80% in the US last year, per data from Apptopia first reported by the Big Technology newsletter. 'Channels'WhatsApp is trying to offer the perks of social media without the publicity of it all. In late 2022, the Meta chief acknowledged that while there is still some time before bets on the metaverse can prove successful, "business messaging is probably going to be the next major pillar."

Persons: WhatsApp, iMessage, Mark Zuckerberg, —, Zuckerberg Organizations: Meta, Service, Apple, Bloomberg Intelligence, Facebook, Chevrolet, Samsung, Big Technology Locations: America

☆ Why Meta's shiny new dividend and whopping $50 billion buyback plan may divide investors
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta declared its first dividend and another $50 billion in approved buybacks. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementMeta announced its first dividend and another $50 billion of authorized stock buybacks in its fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday. The social-media giant is clearly eager to reward its shareholders, but its latest moves could divide investors. Meta's new dividend and large-scale buybacks are intended to show it values its shareholders and wants to reward them.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, Warren Buffett, —, Susan Li, Nigel Green, Tesla, Instagram, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway doesn't, allocator, Buffett, Zuckerberg, Apple's buybacks, Kraft Heinz Organizations: Service, Meta, Reality Labs, Facebook, Warren, buybacks, Chevron, Kraft

☆ Mark Zuckerberg's Meta has lost nearly $50 billion on the metaverse - more than Ford, Hershey, or Kraft Heinz are worth
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta has recorded nearly $50 billion of metaverse losses in under five years. "We expect our RL operating losses to increase meaningfully in 2024," they noted in Meta's third-quarter earnings. Meta's metaverse losses to date exceed the market capitalization of Ford ($45 billion), Keurig Dr. Pepper ($41 billion), Hershey ($39 billion), Kraft Heinz ($39 billion), and many other large companies. They could soon overtake Lululemon ($49 billion), Chipotle ($50 billion), Target ($51 billion), and Monster Beverage ($52 billion) in size. They would also be worth nearly half as much as Zuckerberg ($105 billion).

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, Kraft Heinz, Nike's Phil Knight, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, Ken Griffin, —, Zuckerberg's Meta, Zuckerberg, Dr, Pepper, Phil Knight, Jensen Huang, Taylor Organizations: Ford, Hershey, Service, Reality Labs, Lululemon, Monster Beverage, Bloomberg, Nike, Nvidia, Citadel, Meta, NBA Locations: Meta's

☆ How options traders are setting up for the major tech earnings this week
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Michael Khouw | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +15 min

Big Tech earnings This week is less about reading between the lines/through results, and contextualizing management comments, but rather it's about the market itself. AI - AI - AI! The options market is implying an earnings related move of 4.7%. Our options market sentiment score for GOOG/GOOGL is 80th percentile - which one may think of like a score/grade, so a B- in terms of options sentiment. Call open interest is 15% higher than put open interest, our options market sentiment score is 83% so B/B- territory.

Persons: ChatGPT, Bing, it's, AMZN, Mark Zuckerberg's, Zuckerberg, one's Organizations: Cambridge, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, BlackRock, Goldman, Equity, Big Tech, Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Inc, Investors, YouTube, Amazon, Google, Gaming, Activision, Logistics, Federal Express, CNBC, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Visa, Mastercard, Merck, Co Locations: financials, Wells Fargo

☆ Mark Zuckerberg's Meta is reportedly 'afraid of Apple' right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Meta worker told Bloomberg the company is in the "'afraid of Apple' stage." Zuckerberg has pointed out that Apple's headset will be far more expensive than Meta's. "We're in the 'afraid of Apple' stage," one Meta worker told Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is positioning its Vision Pro as a productivity and entertainment device first and foremost, with gaming as more of an added bonus. The Meta Quest 3, priced at a fraction of Apple's Vision Pro, launches October 10.

Persons: Apple, Mark, Zuckerberg, —, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Mark Zuckerberg, Gurman, Tim Cook, Apple's, he'd Organizations: Bloomberg, Apple, Service, Meta, Counterpoint Research, New York Times, Pro, Quest

☆ Mark Zuckerberg spars on a floating barge with MMA fighters in a video that couldn't be further from the sunblock-smeared Zuck of summer 2020
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Kylie Kirschner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been curating a "shredded" persona over the last year. His training regimen drew attention after he agreed to a possible cage fight with Elon Musk. Zuckerberg's newest post shows him sparring with MMA fighters on a floating barge. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. The new summertime Zuck spars with MMA fighters on a floating barge.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Long, Israel Adesanya, Zuckerberg, Alexander Volkanovski, that's, Musk, he'd, — Zuckerberg, Elon, Meta, Jeff Bezos, podcaster Lex Fridman, Mark Zuckerberg's Organizations: Service, New Zealand MMA, MMA, Meta Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ The hidden consequence of the return-to-office crackdown — more workers will lose their jobs
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The push to get workers back to offices could put millions of jobs at risk if people don't comply. What makes this even more difficult to swallow for Meta employees is just how quickly Meta's tone has changed. In June, they were informed about the need to come into the office three days a week from September 5, per The Information. AdvertisementAdvertisementAmazon is making a similar play to Meta, with a return-to-office strategy that involves scare tactics. But since few people can afford to be out of a job right now, employers may get their way.

Persons: they'll, Zuckerberg's Meta, Lori Goler, Goler, Andy Jassy's, Insider's Linette Lopez Organizations: Labor, Stanford University, University of Chicago, MIT, ITAM University, Meta, Wall, Deloitte, Workplace Intelligence Locations: Silicon Valley, Silicon, Wall, Mexico, East Coast

☆ Return-to-office mandates just got another vote in their favor: A new study says WFH results in 18% less productivity.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A study from economists at MIT and UCLA found productivity dropped when people worked from home. The study observed groups of data-entry workers in India working from home and from the office. Some workers argue they're more productive working remotely. Those in the work-from-home group were 18% less productive than those working from the office. Why data-entry workers?

Persons: It's, David Atkin, Andy Jassy, Zuckerberg's Meta Organizations: MIT, UCLA, Service, National Bureau of Economic Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Fortune, Microsoft, Amazon Locations: India, Wall, Silicon, Los Angeles, Chennai

☆ Tim Cook says he's using Apple's $3,500 Vision Pro headset daily. There are still no photos.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tim Cook wants you to know that he's using the Apple Vision Pro every single day. The Vision Pro is a major step into virtual reality, and is Apple's biggest launch since the iPhone. Tim Cook wants everyone to know he's apparently using Apple's upcoming Vision Pro headset every day, though not enough to share a selfie. A quick recap: The Apple Vision Pro is, to all intents and purposes, the company's shot at a virtual-reality headset. "There's enormous excitement around the Vision Pro," Cook insisted during the firm's quarterly earnings call Thursday.

Persons: Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg's, Cook, that's, We're, Sidney Ho, Alistair Barr, Apple Organizations: Apple Vision, Apple, Vision, Deutsche Bank, Apple's, Conference, VR

☆ Mark Zuckerberg's Metaverse losses pass $40 billion. Here's why that's suddenly OK.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meta has so far lost more than $40 billion on metaverse projects and expects to lose more. Wall Street is starting to come to terms with the massive amount of money Mark Zuckerberg keeps pouring into the metaverse. With second-quarter results out, collective losses from Reality Labs, the metaverse unit at Meta, has now surpassed $40 billion and more financial pain is on the way. "There are, you know, a billion or 2 billion people who have glasses today. During the second quarter, profit from that family of apps increased by $2 billion, while losses from Reality Labs came in at $3.7 billion.

Persons: Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, hassled Zuckerberg, Kali Hays Organizations: Morning, Reality Labs, Meta, Revenue, Facebook, Twitter Locations: khays

☆ Meta already appears to hold the rights to 'X.' It could make Twitter's rebrand complicated.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Sonam Sheth | Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta already appears to have a trademark for an "X" logo. Musk's new logo for "X" also resembles a Unicode character and a Monotype font. Twitter may have hit a snag while rolling out its new logo — it seems like Meta already holds the rights to it. Meta's "X" logo in its trademark filings looks different from the one Musk has put up on Twitter's website. Meta's "X" looks like two arrows with rounded ends pointing inwards — one white and one blue — while Twitter's "X" is a black and white angular rendition.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, Elon Musk, Zuckerberg's Meta, Matthew Scroggs, Josh Gerben, Meta, Gerben Organizations: Elon, Twitter, University College London, Monotype

☆ Meta's VP of Metaverse says 'the metaverse hype is dead,' but that's OK
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Haley Tenore | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Meta's VP of Metaverse said the hype cycle for the metaverse is dead, but that's okay. The metaverse team can "put their heads down and build" the experiences, Vishal Shah told Fortune. "I think the metaverse hype is dead. People access Meta's metaverse apps through the company's Quest lineup of headsets, but Apple recently announced the $3,499 Vision Pro headset. Interestingly enough, Apple is avoiding the term metaverse in favor of "spatial computing."

Persons: Metaverse, Vishal Shah, Fortune, Shah, Mark Zuckerberg's, Mark Zuckerberg, NOAH BERGER, Zuckerberg, Kali Hays, Ashley Stewart, Meta, Tim Cook, Greg Joswiak, Andrew, Boz, Bosworth Organizations: Morning, Tech, Facebook, Meta, Getty Images, Anadolu Agency, Getty, The Washington Post, Apple, Wall Street Journal Locations: Utah, Menlo

☆ Elon Musk Hasn't Killed Twitter, He's Just Made It Irrelevant
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Linette Lopez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

It's been less than a year since he bought it, and Elon Musk's Twitter is already well on its way to suffering a fate worse than death — irrelevance. How you do a turnaroundIn the early days of Musk's Twitter takeover, I told you he was overpaying for the company. Unfortunately for Twitter, Musk is not a traditional turnaround guy. Maybe, to Musk, that's a crusade worth sacrificing the very thing that makes Twitter special. Maybe this is the site Musk wanted in the first place.

Persons: It's, Elon, irrelevance, Musk, Ron DeSantis, Rihanna, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, Alexandria Ocasio, Cortez, Jennifer Lopez, Steph Curry, Donald Trump's, he's, tweeting, Vicki Bryan, Bond Angle, Goldman Sachs, Twitter hadn't, Linda Yaccarino, That's, Bryan, Morgan Stanley, what's, Jack Dorsey, —, Instagram, Lina Khan, hasn't, Meta, Zuckerberg, he'll, Linette Lopez Organizations: Elon Musk's Twitter, Gov, Twitter, Super, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, MTA, Oracle, Google, Fidelity, Wall Street, Pew Research, Pew, Federal Trade Commission, Meta Locations: Florida, Alexandria, New York

The complaint by Musk's X Corp, which owns Twitter, was filed on Wednesday in the California Superior Court in San Francisco. Musk accused Wachtell of exploiting Twitter by accepting, in the final days before the Oct. 27, 2022, buyout closed, huge "success" fees doled out by departing Twitter executives who were grateful that Musk would be forced to close. "Wachtell arranged to effectively line its pockets with funds from the company cash register while the keys were being handed over" to Musk, the complaint said. Musk wants to recoup "excess" fees that Wachtell charged under an agreement signed on the day of closing by one of its partners and Twitter's chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde. The case is X Corp v Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, California Superior Court, County of San Francisco, No.

Persons: Elon Musk, Wachtell, Lipton, Katz, Musk, Vijaya Gadde, Martha Lane Fox, Sean Edgett, Mark Zuckerberg's, Carl Icahn, Icahn, Jonathan Stempel, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Rosen, Twitter, Musk's X Corp, California Superior Court, Tesla Inc, SpaceX, Fox, CVR Energy, X Corp, Thomson Locations: California, San Francisco, Delaware, Katz , California, Court, County, New York

☆ Mark Zuckerberg's Meta launches Instagram's Threads app, a rival to Twitter amidst Elon Musk backlash
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Samantha Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Meta's new Threads app Courtesy Meta“The vision for Threads is to create an option and friendly public space for conversation,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Threads post following the launch. After downloading the app, users are asked to link up their Instagram page, customize their profile and follow the same accounts they already follow on Instagram. Verified Instagram accounts are also automatically verified on Threads. In this photo illustration, the app Threads from Meta seen displayed on a mobile phone. The escalating rivalry between the two companies only appears to have added to the rivalry between Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Persons: ”, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, Elon Musk, Davide Bonaldo, ” parroting, Musk, “, Zuckerberg, –, Hanna Ziady Organizations: CNN, Facebook, Twitter, Meta, Wednesday, TweetDeck

☆ Meta is setting up a taskforce after Instagram was found to guide users to child-sex context
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meta has set up a taskforce to counter child exploitation following a Wall Street Journal report. An investigation by the newspaper and academic researchers found Instagram promoted child-sex material. It highlighted the failings of Big Tech firms in regulating the spread of illicit content online. Meta has set up a taskforce to counter child exploitation after a news report said Instagram helped promote networks of accounts trading child-sex content. Twitter owner Elon Musk has also identified sexual content of children online as a serious problem.

Persons: Meta, Instagram, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, Elon Musk, We're Organizations: Big Tech, Street, Stanford University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, The, The New York Times, Twitter

☆ Apple is ready to enter its metaverse era with a mixed reality headset. The rest of the world might not be.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Apple is on the cusp of revealing its future post-iPhone with a big bet on the metaverse. Tim Cook is expected to unveil a new mixed reality headset at WWDC in his riskiest move yet. Apple has the tough task of convincing the world the metaverse is still the future as interest dips. But emerging signs suggest Apple would have a seriously tough time shipping units for its metaverse bet. "If you believe there's something beyond a smartphone then it's probably the metaverse," Munster said.

Persons: Tim Cook, that's, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, it's, Zuckerberg, Palmer Luckey, —, ChatGPT, Gene Munster, he's, Siri, That's, Apple, Munster, Bill Gates, Apple's Cook Organizations: Apple, Developers, Bloomberg, Meta, Deepwater Asset Management, Microsoft Locations: Cupertino

☆ Steve Cohen's Point72 fund has likely scored a $100 million gain on Nvidia stock in 2 months as the AI craze persists
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Steve Cohen's hedge fund has likely made a $100 million gain on Nvidia after investing last quarter. Cohen recently urged investors to shrug off their fears and ride the "big wave" of AI. Steve Cohen's hedge fund has likely scored a $100 million gain on Nvidia in just two months, thanks to the chipmaker's stock surging on the back of the artificial-intelligence boom. Point72's largest positions included a $523 million stake in Meta Platforms, and more than $400 million worth of stock in both Broadcom and Amazon. He described the burgeoning technology as a "big wave," and predicted it would create new jobs as well as eliminate existing ones.

☆ Even Apple will have a hard time making the metaverse cool
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Apple must do what no other tech company has done: make the metaverse cool. The iPhone maker is widely expected to debut its mixed-reality headset next month. The company's making a risky move as the tech world retreats from the metaverse and fixates on AI. In other words, Apple has more to lose by not making a wager on a mixed-reality headset than if it did. "If you believe there's something beyond a smartphone then it's probably the metaverse," Munster said.

☆ Harvard expert 'takes issue' with Mark Zuckerberg's Meta layoffs: Cutting jobs over email is 'absolutely horrific'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Ashton Jackson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

As Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to let go of 10,000 more workers in his company's latest round of layoffs, a Harvard University expert says she "takes issue" with the way some of them are being conducted — namely, over email. A bevy of ex-Meta employees have spoken with media outlets or posted on social media about getting laid off via email in recent weeks. Jennifer Haynes, a former Meta technical recruiter, filmed herself checking her email and learning that she'd been laid off in real time. On March 13, one day before Zuckerberg's layoffs announcement, a share of Meta stock was worth $180.90. This story has been updated to reflect that similar reports of recent layoffs though email have emerged from Amazon and Twitter.

☆ Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse ambitions are shrinking
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

In a year, the metaverse went from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's obsession to rarely being mentioned. He mentioned AI four times, positioning the development of that technology as now being Meta's "single largest investment." Executives mentioned it half a dozen times during a call with Wall Street analysts, while the metaverse was not mentioned at all. It's a relief to investors and Wall Street analysts, who last year grew increasingly frustrated with Zuckerberg's once defiant tone on the massive cost of metaverse work. It's set to lose $15 billion this year and is on track to cost the company $20 billion a year going forward.

☆ Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse just keeps losing money, as Meta's Reality Labs division posts a loss of $13.7 billion for the year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Reality Labs is the business and research unit of Meta that focuses on the metaverse. It reported a loss of $4.28 billion for the fourth quarter, wider than $3.3 billion in the quarter prior. The company posted its fourth-quarter earnings report on Wednesday, with Reality Labs showing an operating loss of $4.28 billion for the fourth quarter, wider than $3.3 billion in the previous quarter. In the past 12 months, Reality Labs has sucked up more than $13.7 billion. However, in an internal email sent in late December, Bosworth reportedly told the 18,000 members of Reality Labs that the company has solved too many problems simply "by adding headcount."

☆ Apple reportedly set to announce 'Reality Pro' VR headset this spring and will ship it in the fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The silhouette of Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple, during the Apple World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco. Apple will unveil its highly anticipated mixed-reality headset this spring, with consumer deliveries beginning in fall 2023, Bloomberg recently reported. Kuo also anticipated that Apple would announce its headset in the spring or at Apple's developer event in June. Bloomberg said on Sunday that Apple's anticipated headset would run on a new operating system, dubbed xrOS, and that Apple had already granted a select group of software developers access to the platform. Apple's software enables companies and developers to let users do anything from trying on glasses to model furniture purchases in their personal spaces.

☆ The 10 biggest losers in the S&P 500 this year have erased $1.6 trillion in market value
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

In a losing year for US stocks, here are the 10 biggest percentage decliners on the S&P 500. The 10 largest S&P 500 stock losers wiped out $1.6 trillion in market value. The 10 S&P 500 companies that have experienced the largest stock-price declines heading into the end of 2022 have wiped out a combined market value of more than $1.6 trillion. PayPalTicker: PYPLYTD Performance: -63.4%Market Value Decline: $142.49 billionLike many tech companies, the digital payments processor is seeing a slowdown after a pandemic boom. Photo by George Frey/Getty ImagesTicker: GNRCYTD Performance: -73.8%Market Value Decline: $16.6 billionMass COVID lockdowns helped sparked big demand for backup generators as people worked and studied at home.

☆ Apple job listings suggest the company is building a metaverse of its own for its long-rumored headset
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Apple is looking for engineers who can develop a 3D mixed-reality world for its coming headset. Tim Cook and another Apple executives have previously said they avoid using the word "metaverse." The company's development of a virtual and augmented reality headset was reported in early 2021, and trademark filings from August show that Apple may call the headset "Reality One" or "Reality Pro." Apple CEO Tim Cook previously told Dutch media outlet Bright that he avoids using the word "metaverse." Apple is expected to release its first mixed-reality headset in 2023, Bloomberg reported.

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