Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said in a tweet on Tuesday that a report on Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg stepping down next year was false. A report on Tuesday stated that Zuckerberg would resign as the company’s CEO next year, and came weeks after the company announced it would lay off over 11,000 employees, or nearly 13 percent of its workforce. The Facebook parent firm has doubled down on its risky metaverse bet, under Zuckerberg’s leadership, amid a crumbling advertising market and decades-high inflation.
News website The Leak earlier in the day reported that Zuckerberg was set to resign in 2023, citing an unnamed insider source. The report briefly sent the company’s shares up 1 percent. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone responded on Twitter, stating “this is false.” in response to a tweet with the story.
Earlier this month, Meta announced it would cut more than 11,000 jobs, or 13 percent of its workforce in what could be one of the biggest mass layoffs this year, and the first in the company’s 18-year history. Firms like Twitter, Microsoft, and Snap have all laid off thousands of employees this year. At the time, the company said that affected employees will also receive shares that were set to vest on November 15 and healthcare coverage for six months, according to Meta, which had 87,314 employees as of the end of September.
Meta, once worth more than $1 trillion (roughly Rs. 81,78,125 crore), is now valued at $256 billion (roughly Rs. 20,93,600 crore) after losing more than 70 percent of its value this year alone.
At the time, the company said that other than the job cuts, which will impact units across Meta with a disproportional hit to the recruiting and business teams, the company will also reduce office space, lower discretionary spending, and extend a hiring freeze into the first quarter to rein in expenses.
Meanwhile, the company expects to pour leftover resources into its Reality Labs unit that is responsible for its metaverse investments. The business lost $9.44 billion (roughly Rs. 77,200 crore) from January to September this year, with losses expected to grow significantly in 2023.
© Thomson Reuters 2022
