<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/meta" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meta</a> CEO <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/mark-zuckerberg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Zuckerberg</a> announced that the social media <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/business" target="_blank" rel="noopener">company</a> would dismiss 10,000 employees and cease efforts to fill 5,000 open roles amid <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">economic</a> turmoil and lackluster performance.
Meta reported $116.6 billion in revenues in its final <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/metas-profits-down-more-than-40-last-year-but-stock-rallies-as-zuckerberg-streamlines-company" target="_blank" rel="noopener">earnings report</a> of 2022, marking a 1% decline from the $117.9 billion earned in 2021, even as a somewhat higher effective tax rate and a 23% increase in costs from operations contributed to a 41% decline in net income. Zuckerberg said in a Tuesday <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2023/03/mark-zuckerberg-meta-year-of-efficiency/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement</a> that ongoing efforts to “improve organizational efficiency” and “garbage collect unnecessary processes” would necessitate the headcount reduction.
“As I’ve talked about efficiency this year, I’ve said that part of our work will involve removing jobs, and that will be in service of both building a leaner, more technical company and improving our business performance to enable our long term vision,” Zuckerberg wrote.
The executive <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/heads-roll-at-meta-as-zuckerberg-announces-massive-layoffs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dismissed</a> 13% of his company’s workforce last year after he received a letter from Altimeter Capital Management CEO Brad Gerstner advocating for moves that would significantly reduce headcount, which had more than tripled from 25,000 employees to 85,000 employees over the past four years. Shares for Meta increased more than 20% after the layoff announcement, suggesting that investors were heartened by the emphasis on efficiency.
Gerstner noted that many companies in Silicon Valley could “achieve similar levels of revenue with far fewer people.” Zuckerberg acknowledged that ending less important initiatives freed talented employees to direct their attention toward the most important tasks.
Zuckerberg also told employees on Tuesday that they should brace for a cultural shift toward less managerial bureaucracy, which “adds latency and risk aversion” in decision making, and a renewed emphasis from the company on hiring more engineers relative to other positions. He also revealed that an analysis of remote work suggested that engineers who either joined a Meta office before transferring to remote work or who remained in a physical office “performed better on average” than those who joined the company for a virtual position.
“This analysis also shows that engineers earlier in their career perform better on average when they work in-person with teammates at least three days a week,” Zuckerberg continued. “This requires further study, but our hypothesis is that it is still easier to build trust in person and that those relationships help us work more effectively.”
Similar findings have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/reality-has-set-in-majority-of-firms-see-resistance-from-employees-who-do-not-want-remote-work-to-end" target="_blank" rel="noopener">occurred</a> at other prominent technology companies, many of which instituted across-the-board virtual work arrangements in response to lockdown mandates. Some workers are incensed as their employers reinstitute hybrid or traditional work: employees at Amazon, which requires staff members to report to a physical office at least three times per week, have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/thousands-of-amazon-employees-revolt-as-ceo-makes-them-show-up-in-office-at-least-three-days-per-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">started</a> an internal messaging channel to challenge the end of fully remote work, while Starbucks employees <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/making-our-lives-more-difficult-starbucks-office-staff-revolt-as-company-makes-them-show-up-three-days-per-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">petitioned</a> management in the wake of a similar announcement.
Employees generally prefer virtual work arrangements because of reduced commuting time and more flexibility, but costs for employers are often significant: 85% of managers believe the shift to hybrid work during the lockdown-induced recession has eroded confidence that employees remain productive, according to a <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from Microsoft.

Facebook

Meta Lays Off Thousands More Employees As Zuckerberg Urges Return To Physical Offices

Meta Lays Off 10,000 More Employees

Big Tech

Business

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg.

Meta’s Profits Down More Than 40% Last Year, But Stock Rallies As Zuckerberg Streamlines Company

Meta Profits Down More Than 40% Last Year, But Stock Rallies As Zuckerberg Streamlines Company

Silicon Valley

Stock Market

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a>, the new owner of social media platform <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a> and the chief executive of automaker <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/tesla" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tesla</a>, has lost more of his wealth this year than any other billionaire.
More than $115 billion evaporated from the entrepreneur’s coffers since the beginning of the year, according to an <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2022/12/21/the-planets-billionaires-are-nearly-2-trillion-poorer-this-year/?sh=7a39e42a41e4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimate</a> from Forbes, largely because most of his net worth stems from Tesla, for which stock prices have fallen 67% since the beginning of the year.
Musk generated countless media headlines this year amid his acquisition of Twitter and work to publicize the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-responds-to-latest-release-of-the-twitter-files" target="_blank" rel="noopener">censorious actions</a> undertaken by former management. There exists evidence that reforms at the social media company are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elizabeth-warren-browbeats-tesla-board-over-elon-musks-work-with-twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">producing</a> ire among Democratic-leaning customers at Tesla, impacting the brand’s value and thereby leading to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tesla-investors-are-worried-that-elon-musks-work-with-twitter-could-hurt-automaker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hesitance</a> among investors.
The world’s second-richest man has <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1600964083913588736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remarked</a> that he still oversees Tesla and SpaceX, where he says the teams “are so good that often little is needed” from him.
Musk has been the frequent object of scorn among left-wing lawmakers, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pramila-jayapal-reacts-to-elon-musk-paying-11-billion-in-taxes-by-asking-rich-to-pay-their-fair-share" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accuse</a> him of neglecting to pay his fair share of taxes despite the $11 billion check he cut for the government last year. The multibillionaire previously moved Tesla’s headquarters to Texas after antagonism from officials in California, where Musk said he grew <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-says-tesla-moving-headquarters-from-california-to-texas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increasingly frustrated</a> as government lockdowns prevented the reopening of his companies during the spring of 2020.
This year was also marked by a number of high-profile individuals losing their status as billionaires. A number of brands cut ties with Ye, the rapper previously known as Kanye West, after he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kanye-ye-west-i-like-hitler-i-see-good-things-about-hitler-stop-dissing-the-nazis-he-didnt-kill-6-million" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made</a> anti-Semitic remarks and praised Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, while the cryptocurrency empire led by former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sam-bankman-fried-released-on-250-million-bail" target="_blank" rel="noopener">evaporated</a> after users learned that the disgraced founder had commingled funds between the digital asset exchange and trading firm Alameda Research.
American billionaires lost a combined $660 billion, exceeding the losses from the ultra-rich citizens of other nations. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos lost $80 billion, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin lost $40 billion each, and Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg lost $78 billion. As with Musk, the losses were primarily tied to poor stock performance.
Although losses in the United States exceeded the $620 billion loss faced by Chinese moguls, the latter group shed the most wealth in percentage terms as the nation experiences economic pressures from harsh lockdown policies and a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chinese-manufacturing-is-quickly-collapsing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resultant exodus</a> from foreign manufacturers. Among the Chinese billionaires who suffered the most losses was Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, who saw more than $13 billion vanish this year.
Billionaires in Russia lost a combined $470 billion as the nation invaded neighboring Ukraine, leading many foreign powers to introduce a new round of sanctions. However, several billionaires in developing countries had a blockbuster year: Indonesian coal magnate Low Tuck Kwong gained $16 billion while Indian industrialist Gautam Adani gained over $55 billion, rendering him the world’s third-richest man.
Even beyond the global elite, the wealth of everyday people has plummeted as the global economy took a beating from geopolitical turmoil, runaway inflation, and persistent supply chain bottlenecks. Americans saving for retirement saw their IRA balances fall year-over-year by an average of 25% in the third quarter, while 401(k) balances dropped 23%, according to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/401-pain-average-retirement-savings-continue-to-plummet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">research</a> from Fidelity Investments.

SpaceX And T-Mobile Hold Joint Event In Texas

Elon Musk Loses $115 Billion In 2022, More Than Any Other Ultra-Rich Person

A Bad Year For Billionaires: Elon Musk Leads The Ultra-Rich In Shedding Wealth

Billionaire

Economy

Elon Musk

Jeff Bezos

U.S.

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/meta" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meta</a> CEO <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/mark-zuckerberg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Zuckerberg</a> joined <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a> CEO <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/elon-musk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a> in his criticism of <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/apple" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple</a> for the company’s ability to unilaterally control its app store.
During a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/11/30/business/dealbook-summit-conference" target="_blank" rel="noopener">speech</a> at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit, Zuckerberg said that Apple is the only platform “where one company can control what apps get on the device,” a situation he characterized as neither “sustainable” nor “good.” The founder also noted that other systems such as Windows and Android do not exercise such aggressive gatekeeping.
Meta <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/charts/iphone/social-networking-apps/6005" target="_blank" rel="noopener">controls</a> three of the top four social networking platforms on the Apple app store, including WhatsApp, Messenger, and Facebook. Twitter <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/twitter/id333903271" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ranks</a> first in the app store’s news category.
Musk, who officially <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/go-to-war-musk-targets-apple-claiming-it-canceled-ads-threatened-to-boot-twitter-from-app-store" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquired</a> Twitter last month and desires to pivot the social media company’s business plan toward a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-introduces-new-idea-to-twitter-and-kills-it-hours-later" target="_blank" rel="noopener">subscription-based</a> model, said that Apple, which levies a 30% fee on in-app purchases, enforces a functional tax on the internet. The entrepreneur previously said that Apple has “threatened to withhold” Twitter from its app store without explanation.
Noting that Apple has “mostly stopped advertising” on Twitter, the world’s richest man asked whether the world’s largest company hates “free speech in America.” Several advertisers have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/extremely-messed-up-elon-musk-blasts-activist-groups-for-pushing-advertisers-to-ditch-twitter-destroy-free-speech-in-america" target="_blank" rel="noopener">backed away</a> from Twitter at the behest of activist groups claiming that “extremists” consider the Musk takeover “a new opportunity to post the most abusive, harassing, and racist language and imagery,” including “clear threats of violence against people with whom they disagree.”
Musk hinted that he would consider launching a new brand of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-to-start-creating-smartphones-if-apple-google-remove-twitter-from-app-stores" target="_blank" rel="noopener">smartphones</a> in the event that Apple removes Twitter from the app store. “I certainly hope it does not come to that, but, yes, if there is no other choice, I will make an alternative phone,” he told commentator Liz Wheeler.
Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/raw-exercise-of-monopolistic-power-desantis-demands-congressional-action-if-apple-dumps-twitter-from-app-store" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asserted</a> that a potential move to delist Twitter would constitute a significant abuse of power from Apple. “He’s providing free speech, and so if Apple responds to that by nuking them from the app store, I think that would be a huge, huge mistake,” the governor said, noting that a response from Congress could be warranted.
Musk recently published a set of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-reveals-how-twitters-business-is-doing-under-his-leadership" target="_blank" rel="noopener">investor slides</a> showing that the daily inflow of new users into Twitter has reached two million under his leadership, while “user active minutes per day” reached eight billion. The company now has more than 250 million monetizable daily active users, with all three metrics surpassing previous company records.
According to a <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/elon-musk/less-month-elon-musk-has-driven-away-half-twitters-top-100-advertisers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from left-wing organization Media Matters—one of the groups that signed the letter asking advertisers to sever their relationships with Twitter—as many as 50 of the largest 100 advertisers on the platform have “either announced or seemingly stopped” their campaigns. The world’s richest man initially <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1585619322239561728" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> advertisers that he acquired Twitter in order to foster free speech and noted in the slides that purported hate speech impressions have dwindled under his watch. The hesitant advertisers, however, have spent $2 billion on the platform over the past two years, dealing a salient blow to the company’s bottom line.
“Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists,” Musk confirmed earlier this month. “Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America.”

New York Times DealBook Summit Held In New York City

Zuckerberg Joins Musk In Criticizing Apple’s Iron Grip On Its App Store

Zuckerberg Criticizes Apple's App Store Policies

Apple

Free Speech

Twitter

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is investigating a non-profit supported by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg&#8217;s regarding potential violations of state law.
Paxton issued a Civil Investigative Demand (CID) to the Center for Tech and Civil Life (CTCL) on Thursday to determine whether the group solicited donations under the pretext of protecting voters from COVID while instead using the funds to support partisan election efforts.
“Charities cannot mislead their donors and misrepresent the purpose of their fundraising,” Paxton said in a <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/paxton-investigates-potential-violations-state-law-zuckerberg-backed-center-tech-and-civic-life" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. “Further, in Texas, as in other states, it is the duty of state and county officials, accountable to the people of Texas, to ensure that elections are fair, safe, and free. That duty cannot be usurped by outside entities who are not chosen by and cannot be accountable to the people of Texas.”
The CTCL <a href="https://www.techandciviclife.org/our-story/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claims</a> to be a non-partisan organization that helps &#8220;connect Americans with the information they need to become and remain civically engaged, and ensure that our elections are more professional, inclusive, and secure.&#8221; Founder and Executive Director Tiana Epps-Johnson <a href="https://www.techandciviclife.org/team/tiana-epps-johnson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">served</a> in the inaugural cohort of Obama Foundation Fellows and previously served as the election administration director for a progressive grassroots organization.
The press release from Paxton&#8217;s office stated that the CTCL received an estimated $350 million from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a philanthropy established by Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan. The CTCL claims to be helping election officials around the country to “safely administer” elections, but outside observers have noted that most of the group&#8217;s funding was sent to counties and precincts that overwhelmingly voted for Joe Biden.
Paxton&#8217;s investigation seeks to determine whether donors were deceived regarding the CTCL&#8217;s advertised purposes and hold the organization accountable for any possible wrongdoing.
The attorney general&#8217;s effort is not the first time Paxton has sought to investigate concerns related to Big Tech companies. In October, Paxton <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/paxton-stands-florida-fight-against-big-tech-censorship" target="_blank" rel="noopener">joined</a> in an amicus brief before the Supreme Court to defend a Florida law designed to ensure that individuals aren’t silenced because social media platforms disagree with their opinion.
Earlier in October, Paxton also led a lawsuit by the state against Google over the company&#8217;s unauthorized use of biometric data in violation of the privacy rights of Texans. The lawsuit alleges that &#8220;Google collected millions of biometric identifiers, including voiceprints and records of face geometry, from Texans through its products and services like Google Photos, Google Assistant, and Nest Hub Max,&#8221; according to a <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/paxton-sues-google-its-unauthorized-capture-and-use-biometric-data-and-violation-texans-privacy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> from the attorney general&#8217;s office.

Texas AG Investigates Zuckerberg-Backed Non-Profit Over Potential Violations Of State Law

Ken Paxton

Politics

Texas

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/meta" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meta</a> CEO <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/mark-zuckerberg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Zuckerberg</a> dismissed 13% of his company’s workforce on Wednesday as revenues lag and costs increase.
The social media firm’s performance has worsened significantly over the past year as executives began pouring resources into developing the metaverse, an immersive virtual reality that Zuckerberg believes will serve as the next phase of digital communication. Beyond excessive funds devoted toward the project, analysts had criticized Zuckerberg for more than tripling payrolls from 25,000 people to 85,000 people over the past four years.
In a <a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2022/11/mark-zuckerberg-layoff-message-to-employees/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to employees, Zuckerberg announced that he would lay off more than 11,000 staff members and extend the company’s hiring freeze. “In this new environment, we need to become more capital efficient,” he remarked. “We’ve cut costs across our business, including scaling back budgets, reducing perks, and shrinking our real estate footprint. We’re restructuring teams to increase our efficiency. But these measures alone won’t bring our expenses in line with our revenue growth, so I’ve also made the hard decision to let people go.”
Employees will receive 16 weeks of base pay, as well as two additional weeks for each year of service without limit and healthcare coverage for the next six months.
Meta shares rose nearly 7% to reach $102.98 on Wednesday morning. The company’s stock price has fallen 69.6% since the beginning of the year, significantly trailing the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the technology-heavy NASDAQ, which have dropped 10.1% and 33.8% over the same period, respectively.
“I view layoffs as a last resort, so we decided to rein in other sources of cost before letting teammates go. Overall, this will add up to a meaningful cultural shift in how we operate,” Zuckerberg added. “For example, as we shrink our real estate footprint, we’re transitioning to desk sharing for people who already spend most of their time outside the office. We’ll roll out more cost-cutting changes like this in the coming months.”
Meta’s most recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meta-shares-fall-to-lowest-level-since-2016-as-company-burns-billions-on-metaverse-inflates-payrolls" target="_blank" rel="noopener">earnings report</a> shows that revenues fell year-over-year from $29.0 billion to $27.7 billion, indicating a 4% decline, even as costs and expenses increased 19%, from $18.6 billion to $22.1 billion. Net income more than halved while earnings per share plummeted from $3.22 to $1.64.
Although macroeconomic headwinds have impacted most industries, the technology sector has witnessed the most pronounced stock market selloffs. Zuckerberg’s announcement comes one week after Stripe and Lyft dismissed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/two-more-tech-companies-fire-large-portions-of-their-staff" target="_blank" rel="noopener">similar portions</a> of their headcounts, which occurred as Amazon instituted a freeze on incremental hires in its corporate workforce. Elon Musk, who recently took control of the social media platform Twitter, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/read-it-elon-musk-sends-blunt-message-to-3700-fired-twitter-employees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">laid off</a> half of the company’s employees.
Zuckerberg had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meta-shares-fall-to-lowest-level-since-2016-as-company-burns-billions-on-metaverse-inflates-payrolls" target="_blank" rel="noopener">faced pressure</a> from investors, including Altimeter Capital Management CEO Brad Gerstner, to deal with bloated payrolls. Gerstner also suggested reducing spending on the metaverse, although Zuckerberg did not mention a broader pivot away from the initiative, which prompted his company to change its name from Facebook last year.
“It is a poorly kept secret in Silicon Valley that companies ranging from Google to Meta to Twitter to Uber could achieve similar levels of revenue with far fewer people,” the investor said. “I would take it a step further and argue that these incredible companies would run even better and more efficiently without the layers and lethargy that comes with this extreme rate of employee expansion.”

Heads Roll At Meta As Zuckerberg Announces Massive Layoffs

Meta Dismisses 13% Of Workforce

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/stock-market" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shares</a> of <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/meta" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meta</a> plunged nearly 24% on Thursday as the social media company severely missed quarterly earnings expectations amid criticism of bloated payrolls and distracted spending.
Revenues fell year-over-year from $29.0 billion to $27.7 billion, indicating a 4% decline, even as costs and expenses increased 19%, from $18.6 billion to $22.1 billion. Net income more than halved while earnings per share plummeted from $3.22 to $1.64.
&#8220;Our community continues to grow and I&#8217;m pleased with the strong engagement we&#8217;re seeing driven by progress on our discovery engine and products like Reels,&#8221; Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in an <a href="https://investor.fb.com/investor-news/press-release-details/2022/Meta-Reports-Third-Quarter-2022-Results/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">earnings report</a>. &#8220;While we face near-term challenges on revenue, the fundamentals are there for a return to stronger revenue growth. We&#8217;re approaching 2023 with a focus on prioritization and efficiency that will help us navigate the current environment and emerge an even stronger company.&#8221;
Meta shares plummeted to $98.99 on Thursday, marking the company’s lowest stock price since 2016. Shares have fallen 70.8% since the beginning of the year, significantly trailing the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the technology-heavy NASDAQ, which have dropped 12.2% and 31.7%, respectively.
Much of the new spending comes from Reality Labs, the arm of the company charged with developing technologies related to the metaverse, an immersive virtual reality that Zuckerberg and other executives forecast will serve as the next phase of digital communication. The group saw a $9.4 billion loss in the first three quarters of the year. Meta changed its name from Facebook last year to reflect the new direction.
“Conversely, our growth in cost of revenue is expected to accelerate, driven by infrastructure-related expenses and, to a lesser extent, Reality Labs hardware costs driven by the launch of our next generation of our consumer Quest headset later next year,” Meta said in the earnings report. “We do anticipate that Reality Labs operating losses in 2023 will grow significantly year-over-year. Beyond 2023, we expect to pace Reality Labs investments such that we can achieve our goal of growing overall company operating income in the long run.”
As the market reacted to the lowered earnings, Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock for the first time ever, according to a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-27/morgan-stanley-downgrades-meta-for-first-time-as-costs-soar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Bloomberg. Analysts expect that the company will see more poor results until “outsized investments” in metaverse technology begin to turn positive.
Altimeter Capital Management CEO Brad Gerstner had mentioned similar concerns in a recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/investor-tells-zuckerberg-to-cut-headcount-cool-down-metaverse-push-since-no-one-knows-what-it-even-means" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to Zuckerberg about reversing the firm’s declining performance by reverting to core competencies. Rather than pouring between $10 billion and $15 billion into developing new metaverse technologies each year, Gerstner suggested slowing such expenditures to no more than $5 billion per year as investors focus on social media platforms and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, which Meta will be “well positioned to help invent and monetize.”
Gerstner also mentioned that Meta had more than tripled its workforce from 25,000 people to 85,000 people over the past four years. “It is a poorly kept secret in Silicon Valley that companies ranging from Google to Meta to Twitter to Uber could achieve similar levels of revenue with far fewer people,” he remarked. “I would take it a step further and argue that these incredible companies would run even better and more efficiently without the layers and lethargy that comes with this extreme rate of employee expansion.”

Meta Shares Fall To Lowest Level Since 2016 As Company Burns Billions On Metaverse, Inflates Payrolls

Meta Shares Plummets As Billions Poured Into Metaverse

Metaverse

A video of a young <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/meta" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meta</a> employee enjoying company perks and not appearing to do much work has gone viral and drawn online mockery just as company founder <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/mark-zuckerberg?_gl=1*6z1goy*_ga*OTAwNTI1NTYwLjE2MTM5NzIxMzI.*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTY2NjcxOTc5Ny4xMzg3LjEuMTY2NjcxOTgxOC4zOS4wLjA." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Zuckerberg</a> faces pressure from investors to cut headcount.
In the &#8220;day in the life&#8221; video, Riley Rojas described herself as a product manager at Meta, which <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/facebook-changes-company-name-to-meta-will-focus-on-bringing-the-metaverse-to-life" target="_blank" rel="noopener">changed its name</a> from Facebook last year. The video, which has since garnered more than 1.5 million views on Twitter after its original posting on TikTok, is long on Meta&#8217;s benefits and short on staff meetings, reports, work calendars, laptops, or anything else related to shepherding a consumer product through its various stages of development.
According to her video, Rojas works out before fixing herself a large plate of freshly cooked breakfast food at the Meta office and making herself a coffee with a high-end machine. She says she “did some work on the roof,” a modern lounge with sofas and a fireplace, before grabbing lunch and returning home on a shuttle, after which she spent the evening with friends and her boyfriend.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24META&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">$META</a> bagholders in shambles. <a href="https://t.co/0ZZ9KsxGTd">pic.twitter.com/0ZZ9KsxGTd</a>
— TTI (@TikTokInvestors) <a href="https://twitter.com/TikTokInvestors/status/1584593828769845248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Social media users also noticed Rojas’ journal, which she filled out before her morning exercise routine. Rojas had written “affirmations” such as “I am beautiful, I am smart, I am amazing, I am capable, I love my life.” Under her “to do” list, she had written “work, workout, vibe.”
Rojas’ profile on LinkedIn is impressive: She attended the London School of Economics and the University of California Los Angeles. She has been working at Meta for nearly two years and is presently a product manager for advertising monetization.
The video happened to gain traction online as Altimeter Capital Management <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/investor-tells-zuckerberg-to-cut-headcount-cool-down-metaverse-push-since-no-one-knows-what-it-even-means" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pressed</a> Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to reform the company’s hiring practices and focus on core competencies amid the challenging macroeconomic environment. A letter written by Altimeter CEO Brad Gerstner said that the social media company has drifted into a “land of excess” and “lack of focus and fitness.”
Among other actions, Gerstner suggested a three-step plan centered upon investing no more than $5 billion into technologies related to the metaverse, an immersive virtual reality that the company forecasts will serve as the next phase of digital communication and reducing at least one-fifth of headcount expenses. The letter noted that Meta has more than tripled its workforce from 25,000 people to 85,000 people over the past four years.
“It is a poorly kept secret in Silicon Valley that companies ranging from Google to Meta to Twitter to Uber could achieve similar levels of revenue with far fewer people,” Gerstner contended. “I would take it a step further and argue that these incredible companies would run even better and more efficiently without the layers and lethargy that comes with this extreme rate of employee expansion.”
Share prices for Meta have plummeted 59.9% since the beginning of the year, significantly trailing the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the technology-heavy NASDAQ, which have fallen 13.4% and 29.7%, respectively.
Technology companies were among the first to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/recession-fears-lead-big-tech-companies-to-pause-hiring-cut-jobs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lay off large numbers</a> of employees when the stock market began its most recent decline. Elon Musk, slated to purchase Twitter, reportedly plans to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-elon-musk-to-gut-twitter-report-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cut headcount</a> at the social media company from 7,500 to 2,000.
Reducing a large share of employee-related expenditures would bring Meta to human capital investment levels seen toward the middle of last year. “I don’t think anybody would argue that Meta wasn’t sufficiently staffed in 2021 to tackle a business that looks similar to how it looks today,” Gerstner continued.

Modern open plan office space interior

Video Of 23-Year-Old Meta Employee Enjoying Perks Goes Viral As Investor Tells Zuckerberg To Cut Headcount

Meta Employee Details A Typical Workday At The Company. It Entails Very Little Work.

Generation Z

Altimeter Capital Management pressed <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/meta" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meta</a> CEO <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/mark-zuckerberg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Zuckerburg</a> to reform the company’s hiring practices and focus on core competencies in a Monday investor letter.
Meta, formerly known as Facebook, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/facebook-changes-company-name-to-meta-will-focus-on-bringing-the-metaverse-to-life" target="_blank" rel="noopener">changed its name</a> last year to highlight a pivot toward developing the metaverse, an immersive virtual reality that the company believes will serve as the next phase of digital communication. The letter, addressed to Zuckerberg and Meta’s board of directors, said that the firm has drifted into a “land of excess” and “lack of focus and fitness.”
“At the same time that Meta ramped up spend (sic), you lost the confidence of investors. The conventional wisdom — press and investor — is that the core business hit a wall last fall. As a result, the team hastily pivoted the company toward the metaverse — including a surprise re-naming of the company to Meta,” the <a href="https://medium.com/@alt.cap/time-to-get-fit-an-open-letter-from-altimeter-to-mark-zuckerberg-and-the-meta-board-of-392d94e80a18" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a>, written by Altimeter CEO Brad Gerstner, asserted. “Worse, this skepticism seemed to be affirmed with a nearly-immediate and sizable miss in financial results and continued under-performance throughout 2022.”
Share prices for Meta have fallen over 61.7% since the beginning of the year, significantly trailing the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the technology-heavy NASDAQ, which have fallen 13.9% and 30.8% respectively. Gerstner suggested a three-step plan centered upon reducing at least one-fifth of headcount expenses, slashing yearly capital expenditures by at least $5 billion, and pouring no more than $5 billion into annual metaverse initiatives.
The letter noted that Meta had more than tripled its workforce from 25,000 people to 85,000 people over the past four years. “It is a poorly kept secret in Silicon Valley that companies ranging from Google to Meta to Twitter to Uber could achieve similar levels of revenue with far fewer people,” Gerstner said. “I would take it a step further and argue that these incredible companies would run even better and more efficiently without the layers and lethargy that comes with this extreme rate of employee expansion.”
Indeed, technology companies were among the first to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/recession-fears-lead-big-tech-companies-to-pause-hiring-cut-jobs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lay off large numbers</a> of employees when the stock market began its most recent decline. Elon Musk, who is slated to purchase Twitter, reportedly plans to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-elon-musk-to-gut-twitter-report-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cut headcount</a> at the social media company from 7,500 to 2,000.
Jettisoning one-fifth of employee-related expenses would bring Meta to human capital seen toward the middle of last year. “I don’t think anybody would argue that Meta wasn’t sufficiently staffed in 2021 to tackle a business that looks similar to how it looks today,” Gerstner added.
The financier also contended that the sudden pivot toward the metaverse has “led to much confusion” since most people do not know what the concept “even means.” Rather than pouring between $10 billion and $15 billion into developing new metaverse technologies each year, Gerstner suggested slowing such expenditures to no more than $5 billion per year while investors focus on the company’s core business and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, which Meta will be “well positioned to help invent and monetize.”
Unlike other investor letters, which may push certain reforms to more effectively maximize shareholder value, Altimeter, which retains a 0.1% stake in Meta, said that no demands came attached to the message. “We simply wanted to further engage and continue sharing our thoughts as an interested shareholder,” Gerstner concluded. “We believe in this team. We know Meta has more reach, more relevance, and more incredible opportunities for growth than almost any platform on the planet.”

World Leaders At Munich Security Conference

Investor Tells Zuckerberg To Cut Headcount, Cool Down Metaverse Push Since No One Knows What It ‘Even Means’

Investor Tells Zuckerberg To Cut Headcount And Focus On Core Business

Wall Street

Ye, the rap and fashion mogul formerly known as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/instagram-restricts-kanye-wests-account-kanye-responds-with-shot-at-mark-zuckerberg/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kanye West</a>, can&#8217;t talk to his millions of social media followers, but he apparently can chat with the world&#8217;s richest man.
Elon Musk tweeted Monday evening that he had been in touch with his pal, who was suspended from Instagram and Twitter Sunday after tweeting that he planned to go &#8220;death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.&#8221; It was unclear who was the specific target of Ye&#8217;s ire, but the since-deleted tweet touched off a torrent of criticism. Ye had not been heard from since, until Musk said the two had spoken.
&#8220;Talked to ye today &amp; expressed my concerns about his recent tweet, which I think he took to heart,&#8221; the Tesla founder tweeted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Talked to ye today &amp; expressed my concerns about his recent tweet, which I think he took to heart
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1579627776231247874?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The banishment from Twitter, where Ye has 31 million followers, and Instagram, where he has 18 million, followed a week of controversy for Ye. On Oct. 2, he appeared at a Paris fashion show with The Daily Wire’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/candace-reacts-to-kanye-west-on-tucker-carlson-tonight/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Candace Owens</a> wearing matching “White Lives Matter” shirts which triggered leftists.
On Thursday and Friday, Fox News Channel&#8217;s Tucker Carlson aired two show-length interviews with Ye, and late Saturday, he was locked out of his Instagram account, prompting him to call out the platform&#8217;s owner, Mark Zuckerberg. Sometime in between, he tweeted a picture of a black baseball cap with “2024” emblazoned on the bill, touching off speculation that he was considering a presidential run.
But it was a tweet late Saturday that raised eyebrows – and accusations of anti-Semitism.
“I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE,” Ye wrote in the since-deleted tweet. “The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also. You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.”
The tweet flurry from Ye, who had not used the platform in more than a year, brought a greeting from his friend Musk, the possible soon-to-be owner of Twitter.
<div class="ad-wrapper">
“Welcome back to Twitter, my friend!” <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1578769394536452097?s=20&amp;t=z1jEahNioO0m0tBLkYI_yA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Musk tweeted</a> Saturday.
The billionaires are apparently still talking, but not for their massive social media audiences.
</div>

Screen Shot 2022-10-10 at 7.56.34 PM

Elon Musk Tweets Of Heart-To-Heart With Embattled Pal Kanye West

Kanye West

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/big-tech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instagram</a> restricted rapper and fashion designer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kanye-west" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kanye West</a>’s Instagram account after West was accused of posting anti-semitic content.
The social media company also deleted content from the billionaire’s profile, NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/kanye-west-ye-instagram-anti-semitic-rcna51340" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. A spokesperson for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/meta" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Meta</a>, Instagram’s parent company, confirmed the company&#8217;s decision to <a href="https://variety.com/2022/music/news/kanye-west-instagram-restricted-account-1235397055/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Variety</a> and said the temporary restriction is standard for accounts that violate guidelines multiple times.
Meta did not specify which post violated its rules, but West was accused of sharing anti-semitic content Friday in a now-deleted post. West’s post reportedly showed a text conversation with rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, captioning the post “Jesus is Jew.”
The rapper then took a shot at Meta founder and CEO <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mark-zuckerberg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mark Zuckerberg</a> late Friday after his Instagram restriction, writing on Twitter, “How you gone [sic] kick me off Instagram[?] You used to be my n****.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Look at this Mark 
How you gone kick me off instagram 
You used to be my nigga <a href="https://t.co/YQzjw01jur">pic.twitter.com/YQzjw01jur</a>
&mdash; ye (@kanyewest) <a href="https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1578620714000605184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The social media restriction came just a day after West joined Fox News host Tucker Carlson in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kanye-praises-candace-owens-flames-legacy-media-in-wide-ranging-interview-with-tucker-carlson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wide-ranging interview</a> and discussed how he is constantly targeted by the legacy media, doubling down on his decision to wear a “White Lives Matter” shirt along with Daily Wire host Candace Owens.
“The answer to why I wrote ‘White Lives Matter’ on a shirt is because they do. It’s the obvious thing,” West said.
West was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/instagram-slaps-kanye-west-with-temporary-instagram-ban-over-racial-slur-about-trevor-noah" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suspended</a> from Instagram for 24 hours in March after he violated the platform&#8217;s harassment policy.
The situation began when the “Donda” rapper allegedly posted a photo of comedian Trevor Noah along with a caption that used racial slurs. Page Six said the caption replaced the lyrics to “Kumbaya” with, “All in together now… K*** baya my lord k*** baya K*** baya my lord K*** baya Oooo’ lord K*** baya.”
The rapper was banned for using the racial slur “k***” in the lyrics. West’s post was likely a response to Noah’s remarks about the drama in the rapper’s personal life.
Amanda Harding contributed to this report.

Instagram Restricts Kanye West’s Account; Kanye Responds With Shot At Mark Zuckerberg

Instagram Restricts Kanye West's Account; Kanye Responds With Shot At Mark Zuckerberg

Anti-Semitism

Instagram

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/you-have-no-role-as-liberators-pink-floyd-rocker-trashes-biden-for-fueling-the-fire-in-ukraine">Pink Floyd&#8217;s</a> Roger Waters, who usually reserves his most unhinged vitriol for the state of Israel, trained his acid tongue on Facebook founder <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mark-zuckerberg">Mark Zuckerberg</a> Thursday, telling <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-rogan">Joe Rogan</a>, the billionaire proved he is &#8220;in cahoots with FBI&#8221; by suppressing the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/hunter-biden">Hunter Biden</a> laptop story before the 2020 election.
During Spotify&#8217;s &#8220;The Joe Rogan Experience&#8221; <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/4iCWReCqpscoTbCCSClIRu?si=OkHzMOKkTHq8AGCupJ1eWQ">podcast</a> Thursday, Waters, who is widely viewed as anti-Semitic for his frequent rants about Israel, told the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/thats-not-your-job-rogan-goes-off-on-progressive-ideology-push-in-schools-drag-shows-for-little-kids">host</a> that Zuckerberg shouldn&#8217;t have his &#8220;finger on the delete button&#8221; and said the CEO is now part of the &#8220;propaganda to keep us all in line.&#8221;
&#8220;Zuckerberg, [Jeff] Bezos, you know [Bill] Gates, I don&#8217;t care who they are,&#8221; Waters said. &#8220;They are hugely rich, American oligarchs. I&#8217;m sure it&#8217;s true of Russian oligarchs and Chinese oligarchs. They amass huge amounts of money because it gives them power.&#8221;
&#8220;Then they buy newspapers and television stations and whatever, so they become part of the system of propaganda to keep us all in line,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I actually wrote a sketch about &#8230; Zuckerberg. Unfortunately, it&#8217;s not in the show.&#8221;
Waters then described the sketch that included a grumpy sounding Zuckerberg in a penthouse ordering an assistant who&#8217;s there to tell him that they&#8217;ve run out of space to store all the money to &#8220;buy another f***ing island.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hes-so-far-gone-rogan-says-having-biden-in-office-fing-dangerous">Rogan</a> talked about how Zuckerberg created the social network and how it&#8217;s become &#8220;wildly popular.&#8221;
&#8220;And he&#8217;s[Zuckerberg] now in cahoots with the FBI and the CIA and have some cozy meetings with them deciding who to allow to communicate with their brothers and sisters,&#8221; Waters replied. &#8220;And who to censor.&#8221;
He has <a href="https://twitter.com/rogerwaters/status/1390511223565914115">called</a> Israel an &#8220;apartheid state&#8221; and has accused the country of carrying out a genocide against Palestinians.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ridiculous-rogan-torches-white-house-press-secretary-after-doocy-asked-about-her-2016-stolen-election-claim">Rogan</a> reminded the rocker he had Zuckerberg on his show and they discussed the squelching of the Hunter Biden laptop story before the election.
Rogan said Zuckerberg told him the FBI came to them and warned them about some &#8220;Russian disinformation leading towards the election.&#8221; In response, the CEO said they decided to &#8220;limit its engagement,&#8221; as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/evidence-of-fbi-meddling-in-2020-election-mounts-after-zuckerbergs-hunter-biden-laptop-revelation">The Daily Wire</a> previously reported.
Waters called Zuckerberg a &#8220;prick&#8221; and said the FBI could &#8220;f*** off&#8221; with their &#8220;Russiagate.&#8221;
&#8220;They can f*** off,&#8221; the rocker said. &#8220;If I ever hear about Russiagate again &#8230;&#8221;
Rogan replied that the &#8220;fascinating part&#8221; of the laptop &#8220;disinformation&#8221; story is that it turned out not to be true.
&#8220;Well, the fact is in my view, what&#8217;s really dangerous is this prick [Zuckerberg] has any hand at all in deciding what any of us read about anything,&#8221; Waters explained. &#8220;He should not have his finger on the delete button on anything that goes through Facebook, in my view.&#8221;
&#8220;And certainly anything to do with foreign policy,&#8221; he added. &#8220;For instance, for anything to do with the Ukraine war. You can&#8217;t have Meta deciding what we should believe about that. It&#8217;s bad enough that the whole of the print section of mainstream media and all television has decided what we should believe about the Ukraine.&#8221;
&#8220;So, they&#8217;re all completely happy to tell us Russian soldiers have been raping babies to death. And then you know three days later, you find out that it&#8217;s unattributable &#8230; but nevertheless it&#8217;s already been printed. And it goes somewhere into the conscious,&#8221; Waters continued.

Roger Waters_Joe Rogan

Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters Tells Rogan Mark Zuckerberg Is ‘Now In Cahoots With FBI’

Pink Floyd's Roger Waters Tells Rogan Mark Zuckerberg Is 'Now In Cahoots With FBI' 

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