Founder’s Letter, 2021

[ … ] Not shown: Facebook’s path from text on websites to mobile video.

The next platform will be even more immersive — an embodied internet where you’re in the experience, not just looking at it. We call this the metaverse, and it will touch every product we build.¹ (Editorial note 1)Editorial · 1Known at the timeThe letter sets the metaverse at the end of a line from desktop to mobile and from text to video, so it reads as the next turn of a cycle rather than a bet. The scope is the whole company, “every product”, not one division. That is the case for spending ahead of demand: a company that believes platform positions are set early cannot wait for proof.

[ … ] Not shown: Presence, holograms, devices, and Meta’s role and business model.

Privacy and safety need to be built into the metaverse from day one. So do open standards and interoperability.² (Fact note 2)Fact · 2With hindsightOn 22 April 2024 Meta said it was opening Meta Horizon OS, the operating system of its Quest headsets, to third-party hardware makers, with ASUS’s Republic of Gamers among the first. Meta called it a step toward “a more open computing platform for the metaverse”. That opens Meta’s own platform; it is not the cross-company interoperability of digital items the letter describes.SourceMeta NewsroomIntroducing Our Open Mixed Reality Ecosystem22 Apr 2024 This will require not just novel technical work — like supporting crypto and NFT projects in the community — but also new forms of governance. Most of all, we need to help build ecosystems so that more people have a stake in the future and can benefit not just as consumers but as creators.

This period has also been humbling because as big of a company as we are, we’ve also learned what it’s like to build on other platforms. Living under their rules has profoundly shaped my views on the tech industry.³ (Fact note 3)Fact · 3Known at the timeThe letter names no company. Three days earlier, on 25 October 2021, Facebook’s third-quarter results release cited “continued headwinds from Apple's iOS 14 changes” in its revenue outlook for the fourth quarter.SourceFacebook, earnings release (Exhibit 99.1)Facebook Reports Third Quarter 2021 Results25 Oct 2021 I’ve come to believe that the lack of choice for consumers and high fees for developers are stifling innovation and holding back the internet economy.

[ … ] Not shown: Free apps, low ad prices and low-fee commerce tools.

That’s the approach we want to bring to helping to build the metaverse. We plan to sell our devices at cost or subsidized to make them available to more people.⁴ (Editorial note 4)Editorial · 4Known at the timeThe pricing promise inverts the toll the letter complains about: subsidised hardware, low fees and open side-loading, in exchange for reach. It pays only if the platform reaches scale, and it gives up the hardware margin that could have funded the wait. Meta explains rising Reality Labs losses by “ongoing product development efforts” and ecosystem investment, so the segment figures cannot show what the subsidies alone cost.SourceMeta, earnings release (Exhibit 99.1)Meta Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Results; Initiates Quarterly Dividend1 Feb 2024 We’ll continue supporting side-loading and streaming from PCs so people have choice, rather than forcing them to use the Quest Store to find apps or reach customers. And we’ll aim to offer developer and creator services with low fees in as many cases as possible so we can maximize the overall creative economy. We’ll need to make sure we don’t lose too much money along the way though.⁵ (Fact note 5)Fact · 5With hindsightReality Labs reported operating losses of $10,193 million in 2021, $13,717 million in 2022, $16,120 million in 2023, $17,729 million in 2024 and $19,193 million in 2025: larger every year. Three days before the letter, Facebook had said it expected its Reality Labs investment to reduce 2021 operating profit by “approximately $10 billion”, and that it expected to “increase our investments for the next several years”.SourcesFacebook, earnings release (Exhibit 99.1)Facebook Reports Third Quarter 2021 Results25 Oct 2021Meta, earnings release (Exhibit 99.1)Meta Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Results1 Feb 2023Meta, earnings release (Exhibit 99.1)Meta Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Results; Initiates Quarterly Dividend1 Feb 2024Meta, earnings release (Exhibit 99.1)Meta Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Results29 Jan 2025Meta, earnings release (Exhibit 99.1)Meta Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results28 Jan 2026

Our hope is that within the next decade, the metaverse will reach a billion people⁶ (Fact note 6)Fact · 6With hindsightThe letter’s decade has not yet run out, and it calls the figure a hope. The fourth-quarter results releases we read for 2022 to 2025 report Reality Labs revenue and operating loss but no count of metaverse users. Reality Labs revenue in 2025 was $2,207 million.SourcesMeta, earnings release (Exhibit 99.1)Meta Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Results1 Feb 2023Meta, earnings release (Exhibit 99.1)Meta Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Results; Initiates Quarterly Dividend1 Feb 2024Meta, earnings release (Exhibit 99.1)Meta Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Results29 Jan 2025Meta, earnings release (Exhibit 99.1)Meta Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results28 Jan 2026, host hundreds of billions of dollars of digital commerce, and support jobs for millions of creators and developers.

[ … ] Not shown: A company that connects people, seen as a social media company.

Right now our brand is so tightly linked to one product that it can’t possibly represent everything we’re doing today, let alone in the future.⁷ (Editorial note 7)Editorial · 7Known at the timeThe stated reason is scope: one product’s name cannot cover a company that wants to build the next platform. The rename also gives the parent a name apart from Facebook after five years the letter itself calls “humbling”. The letter argues only the first reason. Over time, I hope we are seen as a metaverse company, and I want to anchor our work and our identity on what we’re building towards.

We just announced that we’re making a fundamental change to our company. We’re now looking at and reporting on our business as two different segments: one for our family of apps and one for our work on future platforms.⁸ (Fact note 8)Fact · 8Known at the timeFacebook announced the split on 25 October 2021 with its third-quarter results: from the fourth quarter of 2021 it would report two segments, Family of Apps and Facebook Reality Labs. The rename announcement called them Family of Apps and Reality Labs.SourcesFacebook, earnings release (Exhibit 99.1)Facebook Reports Third Quarter 2021 Results25 Oct 2021Meta NewsroomThe Facebook Company Is Now Meta28 Oct 2021 Our work on the metaverse is not just one of these segments. The metaverse encompasses both the social experiences and future technology. As we broaden our vision, it’s time for us to adopt a new brand.

To reflect who we are and the future we hope to build, I’m proud to share that our company is now Meta.

[ … ] Not shown: The mission and app brands stay the same, under a new vision.

From now on, we will be metaverse-first, not Facebook-first.⁹ (Fact note 9)Fact · 9With hindsightOn 7 July 2022 Meta introduced Meta accounts, “a new way for people to log into their VR headsets that doesn’t require a Facebook account”, rolling out from August 2022. In its 2025 results Meta tied the growth in its 2026 capital spending to “our Meta Superintelligence Labs efforts and core business”.SourcesMeta NewsroomIntroducing Meta Accounts and Meta Horizon Profiles for VR7 Jul 2022Meta, earnings release (Exhibit 99.1)Meta Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results28 Jan 2026 That means that over time you won’t need a Facebook account to use our other services. As our new brand starts showing up in our products, I hope people around the world come to know the Meta brand and the future we stand for.

[ … ] Not shown: The meaning of “meta” and an invitation to join.

— Mark Zuckerberg