The birds are flying south at Meta as the company expects serious executive changes
Editors note: Due to META’s official response, stating that the leaked information is false, I have decided to change the headline from “Mark Zuckerberg is set to resign next year” to “A Leak States Mark Zuckerberg is set to resign next year”. However, given our understanding of the source and the quotes we’ve obtained, we continue to stand by the information presented in the report.
Original story: Meta’s journey over the last decade has been a rough one. Silicon Valley and Wall Street have been buzzing with rumors and speculations over the future of the company as pressure mounts on Mark Zuckerberg.
Our insider source, privy to plans at Meta, informs us that “Zuckerberg is set to resign next year”.
Information obtained by The Leak suggests that Zuckerberg has decided to step down himself. The decision, per our insider source, “will not affect metaverse” – Mark’s multi-billion dollar project, which has dragged Meta along with it as the company saw a significant profit decline earlier this year.
Swimming against the tide
Throughout the year, despite shareholder skepticism and concerns, Zuckerberg has been determined to aggressively push forward with his risky plan on the Metaverse – his VR bet, which he claims will pay off in the long run.
This insider leak makes sense in the context of immense investor pressure
According to a Financial Times report in October, investors vented frustrations with Zuckerberg’s plan to double down on investment into the Metaverse. This came after a scathing open letter by Brad Gerstner, whose fund Altimeter Capital owns hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Meta shares.
The open letter makes it clear that Zuckerberg is losing the trust of investors and even lays out a three-point plan, which includes:
“Limit investment in metaverse / Reality Labs to no more than $5B per year.”
This insider leak makes sense in the context of immense investor pressure. It’s very possibly Zuckerberg’s attempt at holding himself accountable for Metaverse’s underwhelming performance – which has seen its stock drop over 70% from its peak.
While the information obtained underlines that this resignation will have no impact on the metaverse, it would make sense for this to simply be a PR move, i.e: Zuckerberg did not resign because of the metaverse.
Zuckerberg already has plans to let go of thousands of employees. This is in line with a general trend in the tech industry and with investor worries about headcount costs, which were outlined in the open letter by Altimeter Capital. Yet, it’s unlikely the two parties will see eye to eye when it comes to the metaverse.
Although he’s withstood similar pressures multiple times over the years, Metaverse’s overestimation of public interest in virtual escapism might be the endgame of Zuckerberg’s long-standing reign.
Update: Andy Stone from META has denied Zuckerberg leaving.
The Leak was founded by Valdemar as well as a team of writers. Leaks should never be treated as gospel. However, we have a ten-year track record.
