Meta Platforms facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

"Facebook, Inc." redirects here. For the social media, see Facebook.

Quick facts for kids
Meta Platforms, Inc.

Logo used since 2021

Headquarters in Menlo Park, California

Trade name

How Meta Started and Grew

A billboard on the Thomson Reuters building welcomed Facebook to Nasdaq in 2012.

An early chart showing Facebook's stock price.

Facebook first offered its shares to the public on January 1, 2012. This is called an initial public offering (IPO). The company wanted to raise $5 billion. At that time, Facebook had 845 million active users each month. Users were also making 2.7 billion likes and comments daily. After the IPO, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder, would still own 22% of the shares. He would also have 57% of the voting power in the company.

Banks helping with the IPO valued each share at $38. This made the company worth $104 billion. This was the highest value for a new public company at that time. A day before the IPO, Facebook decided to sell 25% more shares. This was because so many people wanted to buy them. The IPO raised $16 billion. It was the third largest IPO in U.S. history.

The stock started trading on May 18, 2012. There were some technical issues with the Nasdaq stock exchange that day. The stock price struggled to stay above the IPO price. It closed at $38.23, just a little above its starting price. Many people in the financial world saw this as a bit disappointing.

In 2014, Mark Zuckerberg announced a new company motto. It changed from "Move fast and break things" to "Move fast with stable infrastructure." The old motto meant that developers should work quickly.

Exploring the Metaverse (2018–2020)

Meta started looking into the idea of the metaverse more seriously. This is a virtual world where people can interact.

In 2018, Facebook launched an app called Lasso. It was for sharing short videos, similar to TikTok. Lasso was made for teenagers. However, Facebook announced in July 2020 that Lasso would be shut down.

In 2019, Facebook created Libra Networks. This was to develop its own digital currency called Libra. Big financial companies like Visa and Mastercard supported it. The plan was to launch a limited version of Libra in 2021. However, it faced problems with government rules and public concerns. Libra was later renamed Diem, but it was eventually shut down and sold in 2022.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, more people used online services like Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg believed this increase would continue even after the pandemic. Facebook hired many new employees during this time.

Becoming Meta (2021)

In October 2021, news came out that Facebook planned to change its company name. This happened after the company faced a lot of public criticism. On October 28, 2021, Facebook, Inc. officially changed its name to Meta Platforms. This change was announced at an event called Facebook Connect. The new name "Meta" shows the company's long-term goal. That goal is to build the metaverse. This metaverse will combine social media, virtual reality, and augmented reality.

The name "Meta" was already a trademark in the U.S. It belonged to a Canadian company that analyzed scientific information. This company was bought by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) in 2017. CZI is a foundation started by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan. After Meta Platforms announced its new name, CZI said it would give its rights to the name to Meta Platforms. The old Meta project would end in 2022.

Challenges and Changes (2022)

After the rebranding, Meta faced some challenges. In early 2022, Meta reported a drop in its profits. It also saw no growth in its monthly users. The company expected less money from advertising. This was partly because Apple Inc. made changes to protect user privacy. These changes made it harder for Meta to show targeted ads. Mark Zuckerberg said that competition from video apps like TikTok was also a reason.

Meta's stock price dropped a lot in reaction to this news. This reduced the company's value by hundreds of billions of dollars. Mark Zuckerberg's own wealth also decreased significantly.

In March 2022, Meta (except for WhatsApp) and Instagram were banned in Russia. This was due to accusations of hate speech. Meta tried to appeal the ban, but a Moscow court upheld it.

Also in March 2022, Meta and Luxottica (an Italian eyewear company) launched Ray-Ban Stories. These are smartglasses that can play music and take pictures.

In July 2022, Meta's total income dropped for the first time in a year. This was again linked to Apple's privacy features. It was also due to more competition from TikTok. By October 2022, Meta's market value had fallen even further.

In November 2022, Meta laid off 11,000 employees. This was about 13% of its workforce. Zuckerberg said he had made a mistake by investing too much. He had wrongly thought that the increase in online shopping during the pandemic would continue. More layoffs of 10,000 employees were planned for April 2023. These layoffs were part of a larger trend in the technology industry.

New Directions (2023–Present)

In March 2023, Meta announced another round of layoffs. This would cut 10,000 employees. The goal was to make the company more efficient. Meta's income then went up in the first part of 2023. This was after the company said it would focus more on AI.

On July 6, Meta launched a new app called Threads. This app is a competitor to Twitter.

In July 2023, Meta released its artificial intelligence model called Llama 2. It was made available for businesses to use. This was the first big project from Meta's generative AI group. Meta decided to make it open-source. This means others can use and improve it.

In August 2023, Meta removed news content from Facebook and Instagram in Canada. This was because of a new Canadian law. The law required Meta to pay Canadian news outlets for their content.

By the end of 2023, Meta's stock was one of the best performing tech stocks. Its share price went up by 150%. In January 2024, Meta's stock reached an all-time high.

In November 2023, Meta launched an ad-free service in Europe. This allowed people to pay a fee to avoid targeted ads. However, some groups were concerned that this model might weaken privacy rules.

In February 2024, Meta removed the Facebook and Instagram accounts of Iran's Supreme Leader. This was because of repeated violations of its rules about dangerous organizations.

Buying Other Companies

Meta has bought many other companies. Often, they buy companies to gain talented employees.

One of its first big purchases was Instagram in April 2012. It cost about $1 billion in cash and stock. In February 2014, Facebook announced it would buy WhatsApp for $19 billion. Later that year, Facebook bought Oculus VR for $2.3 billion. Oculus VR makes virtual reality headsets. In 2019, Facebook bought Beat Games, which made the popular VR game Beat Saber. In late 2022, Oculus was renamed Meta Quest.

In May 2020, Facebook announced it bought Giphy for about $400 million. Giphy is known for its animated images (GIFs). The plan was to combine Giphy with the Instagram team. However, in 2021, a UK authority said Meta might have to sell Giphy. They believed the deal would harm competition in advertising. Meta was fined for not giving all the information about the purchase. In October 2022, the UK authority again ruled that Meta must sell Giphy. Meta agreed to the sale, and Giphy was sold to Shutterstock for $53 million in May 2023.

In November 2020, Facebook announced plans to buy Kustomer. This company specializes in customer service platforms and chatbots. The deal was completed in February 2022.

In September 2022, Meta bought Lofelt. This Berlin-based company works on haptic tech. This technology creates touch sensations.

Working with Governments

Meta spends a lot of money to influence government decisions. This is called lobbying. In 2020, Facebook, Inc. spent $19.7 million on lobbying. They hired 79 lobbyists to work with lawmakers. Facebook was the biggest spender on lobbying among the major tech companies in 2020.

Concerns about False Information

In 2024, Meta faced criticism for allowing a fake video of President Biden to stay on its platforms. This happened even after it was proven to be false. There are growing concerns about AI-generated fake videos, called deepfakes, spreading on Meta's platforms.

How Meta is Organized

Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Meta, in 2012.

Leadership Team

Meta's main leaders include:

Mark Zuckerberg, who is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO).
Javier Olivan, the chief operating officer (COO).
Sir Nick Clegg, president of global affairs.
Susan Li, the chief financial officer (CFO).
Andrew Bosworth, the chief technology officer (CTO).
Chris Cox, the chief product officer (CPO).

As of October 2022, Meta had over 83,553 employees around the world.

Board of Directors

Meta has a board that helps guide the company. As of February 2024, the board included:

Mark Zuckerberg (chairman and CEO)
Sheryl Sandberg (former chief operating officer)
Peggy Alford (from PayPal)
Marc Andreessen (a co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz)
Drew Houston (chairman and CEO of Dropbox)
Nancy Killefer (from McKinsey & Company)
Robert M. Kimmitt (a senior international counsel)
Tracey Travis (from Estée Lauder Companies)
Tony Xu (chairman and CEO of DoorDash)
Hock Tan (CEO of Broadcom)
John D. Arnold (a former Enron executive)

Company Decisions

Some people, like early Facebook investor Roger McNamee, have said that Mark Zuckerberg has a lot of control over decisions at Meta.

Chris Hughes, a co-founder of Facebook, has also said that Mark Zuckerberg has too much power. He believes the company is a monopoly and should be broken up. Hughes wrote that Zuckerberg has surrounded himself with people who don't challenge him. He felt the U.S. government should hold Zuckerberg accountable.

How Meta Makes Money

Revenue
(in millions USD)
Year	Revenue	Growth
2004	$&&&&&&&&&&&&&&00.4000000.4	—
2005	$&&&&&&&&&&&&&&09.&&&&&09	2150%
2006	$&&&&&&&&&&&&&048.&&&&&048	433%
2007	$&&&&&&&&&&&&0153.&&&&&0153	219%
2008	$&&&&&&&&&&&&0280.&&&&&0280	83%
2009	$&&&&&&&&&&&&0775.&&&&&0775	177%
2010	$&&&&&&&&&&&02000.&&&&&02,000	158%
2011	$&&&&&&&&&&&03711.&&&&&03,711	86%
2012	$&&&&&&&&&&&05089.&&&&&05,089	37%
2013	$&&&&&&&&&&&07872.&&&&&07,872	55%
2014	$&&&&&&&&&&012466.&&&&&012,466	58%
2015	$&&&&&&&&&&017928.&&&&&017,928	44%
2016	$&&&&&&&&&&027638.&&&&&027,638	54%
2017	$&&&&&&&&&&040653.&&&&&040,653	47%
2018	$&&&&&&&&&&055838.&&&&&055,838	37%
2019	$&&&&&&&&&&070697.&&&&&070,697	27%
2020	$&&&&&&&&&&085965.&&&&&085,965	22%
2021	$117,929	37%
2022	$&&&&&&&&&0116609.&&&&&0116,609	-1%
2023	$&&&&&&&&&0134902.&&&&&0134,902	27%

In 2020, Facebook was ranked No. 34 on the Fortune 500 list. This list ranks the largest U.S. companies by their income. Facebook made almost $86 billion in revenue that year. Most of this money came from advertising. One study in 2017 found that the company earned about $20.21 per user from ads.

Since changing its name to Meta, the company has reportedly lost a lot of value. This is partly due to new privacy rules from companies like Apple and Google. These rules make it harder for Meta to collect user data for targeted ads.

Advertisers on Meta

In February 2015, Facebook announced it had two million active advertisers. Most of these were small businesses. By March 2016, this number grew to three million. Over 70% of these advertisers were from outside the United States.

The cost of advertising on Meta changes. It's based on an auction system. Advertisers bid for ad spaces. One of the main benefits of digital advertising is targeting. Meta can show ads to specific groups of people. This is based on what users view, like, share, and buy.

Taxes

Meta has faced questions about how it handles its taxes. The U.S. tax agency (IRS) has challenged how Facebook valued some of its assets in 2010. These assets were moved from the U.S. to Facebook Ireland. This was part of a tax strategy. The case is still ongoing.

Meta's Locations

Offices

People who use Meta's services outside the U.S. and Canada actually have agreements with Meta's Irish company. This allows Meta to avoid U.S. taxes for users in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and South America. Meta uses a tax strategy that allows it to pay a very low company tax rate on its international income.

In 2010, Facebook opened an office in Hyderabad, India. This office helps with online advertising and supports developers. It also helps users and advertisers. Meta has other support centers in places like Chittagong, Dublin, and Austin, Texas.

Facebook opened its London headquarters in 2017. In 2018, Facebook opened an office in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This office first focused on bringing internet access to people who don't have it. In April 2019, Facebook opened its Taiwan headquarters in Taipei.

In March 2022, Meta opened new regional headquarters in Dubai.

In September 2023, Meta reportedly paid a large sum to end its lease early on an office in London.

The entrance to Meta's main office in Menlo Park, California.

The entrance to Facebook's older headquarters in Palo Alto, California.

A view inside the Facebook headquarters in 2014.

Data Centers

As of 2023, Facebook runs 21 data centers. These are huge buildings that store and process data. Meta has promised to use 100% renewable energy for its operations. It also aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by 2020. Its data centers use special network systems to handle large amounts of internet traffic.