Meta Investor Suggests Firing 20% of Staff & Cutting Metaverse Expenditures

Meta hasn't had much fun this year, as their stock has fallen 61% by 2022. Recently, Altimeter Capital Chairman and CEO Brad Gerstner have written a critical letter expressing his doubts about the company's future.

According to him, Meta has too many employees and moves too slowly to maintain investor confidence. Investors also recommended a 20% reduction in staffing costs, which roughly translates to 14,000-16,000 employees.

He also suggests limiting companies' investment in "metaverse" technology (VR software and hardware) to no more than $5 billion per year. Unfortunately, for Zuckerberg, this comes just days before the company's quarterly earnings call. For context, Altimeter Capital owns more than 2 million shares in the company.

“Meta needs to re-build confidence with investors, employees and the tech community in order to attract, inspire, and retain the best people in the world. In short, Meta needs to get fit and focused.”

Brad Gerstner, Altimeter Capital Chairman and CEO

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Meta has not been having a great time this year, as their stock has fallen by 61% in 2022. Recently, Altimeter Capital Chairman and CEO Brad Gerstner have written a critical letter expressing his doubts about the company’s future.

According to him, Meta has too many employees and is moving too slowly to retain investors’ confidence. The investor also recommended reducing headcount expenses by 20%, which roughly translates to 14,000-16,000 employees.

He also suggested limiting the company’s investments in “metaverse” technology (VR software and hardware) to no more than $5 billion per year. Unfortunately, for Zuckerberg, this comes just a few days ahead of the company’s quarterly earnings call. For context, Altimeter Capital owns more than 2 million shares in the company.

“Meta needs to re-build confidence with investors, employees and the tech community in order to attract, inspire, and retain the best people in the world. In short, Meta needs to get fit and focused.”

Brad Gerstner, Altimeter Capital Chairman and CEO

Investors lose faith in Meta and Mark Zuckerberg

This letter is the latest sign investors are losing faith in Meta and Mark Zuckerberg's ambitions in VR/AR technology. The company has invested significantly in its VR/AR by spending $10 billion annually on the technology. Gerstner stated, “An estimated $100B+ investment in an unknown future is super-sized and terrifying, even by Silicon Valley standards.”

The former social media company has even changed its name from Facebook to Meta to better represent its focus and commitment to VR/AR technology. Unfortunately, Horizon Worlds (the VR Meta world) has not been very successful with the general public or even with Meta employees.

However, Meta has also seen significant success with sales of its VR headsets, especially with the Quest 2. The company has even launched a new VR headset, the Quest Pro, for $1,500.

Despite the success, Zuckerberg will likely need to address investor concerns during the Q3 Meta earnings call. The company will be holding a Q3 earnings call on October 26, 2022. Let us know what you think of Zuckerberg's foray into the VR and AR industry in the comments section below.

Keywords: meta, metaverse, facebook, mark zuckerberg