Meta, or Meta Platforms, is a company that owns and operates some of the world’s largest social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. This article will provide a comprehensive analysis of the company’s organization and structure and give a decisive answer on who owns Meta.
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Who owns Meta?
Meta is the platform behind massively popular social media and networking sites. These include the single largest social media platform, Facebook, with more than 3.05 billion active users, WhatsApp and Instagram (both with 2 billion active users), and Threads, which holds the current record of the fastest-growing consumer software application in history, rising to above 100 million users within five days.
Meta is the trade name of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META), an American multinational tech conglomerate based in Menlo Park, California. It is one of the Big Five, a colloquial term for the five biggest IT companies in the United States.
Meta Platforms was named TheFacebook, Inc. from 2004 to 2005 and Facebook, Inc. from 2005 to 2021. Having expanded beyond the scope of its largest social media product, it has changed its name to Meta in order to “reflect its focus on building the metaverse“, a term mostly referring to a next-gen version of the internet based on the principles of virtual reality and blockchain.
About Meta
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: META) is a global information technology leader and the owner and operator of the foremost social media platforms, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Threads. Beyond social media, it has invested significantly in artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and consumer electronics.
What began as a social platform coded by Zuckerberg and intended to connect students at Harvard University in 2003 has grown into one of the most significant technology companies today. Meta was founded as TheFacebook in 2004 (renamed to Facebook a year later) and had its initial public offering (IPO) on January 1, 2012.
In 2021, the company rebranded from Facebook to Meta, reiterating its intent to embrace virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) features and expand “beyond the physical world of social media.” The company has acquired Oculus VR (today Reality Labs), a researcher and producer of VR and AR software and hardware. Additionally, Meta has focused on artificial intelligence, which is embodied in its Meta AI research department. However, the vast majority of the company’s revenue still comes from social media advertising, which amounted to 97.8% in 2023.
Recommended video: Introducing Meta
Meta Platforms’ stock is a component of the Nasdaq-100, S&P 100, and S&P 500 indices. It trades on the NASDAQ under the META ticker.
Owners of Meta
Several individual insider shareholders, besides Mark Zuckerberg, have (or used to have) significant amounts of company stock, including Michael Schroepfer and David Fischer.
When it comes to institutional shareholders, there are many companies with stakes in Meta, but the top three include Vanguard Group, BlackRock (NYSE: BLK), and Fidelity Investments (formerly FMR).
In other words, no single person owns Meta, but a patchwork of individuals and institutional investors have split ownership of the company. We will list the largest of them below.
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Largest individual insider shareholders
Individual insider shareholders are people directly owning a number of shares. Every time an insider purchases or sells a considerable amount of a company’s stock, they are obliged to submit an SEC Form 4.
Mark Zuckerberg
As mentioned above, Mark Zuckerberg is one of the founders, the chairman, and the CEO of Meta Platforms. He is the fourth-richest person in the world at $162.2 billion, almost the entirety of which comes from his share of Meta. He owns 349,200,895 shares of the company or 13.6% of Meta Platforms’ commonly held stock.
Zuckerberg founded Facebook along with his Harvard roommates in 2004. Initially launched on a limited number of college campuses, the website reached its first billion users in 2012. Zuckerberg himself became the youngest self-made billionaire at age 23 in 2007. He was listed among Time’s most influential people in the world four times and named the Person of the Year in 2010. His name is commonly associated with Facebook and Meta Platforms in general.
Michael Schroepfer
According to the latest SEC Form 4 statement, Michael Schroepfer holds 630,612 shares in Meta Platforms or approximately 0.02% of the company’s shares.
Mike Schroepfer joined Meta (then Facebook) in 2008 and became Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in 2013. He occupied the position until 2022, when he stepped down to become a Senior Fellow. Before his role in Meta Platforms, he was vice president of engineering at Mozilla Corporation.
David Fischer
Fischer owns considerably less stock in Meta than previously mentioned figures in the company, at 36,272 Meta shares, or less than 0.01% of the total META shares.
He was the Chief Revenue Officer of Meta until November 2021, when he headed the company’s advertising and Sales and Marketing teams worldwide. He joined the company in 2010, before which he had been vice president of Global Online Sales and Operations at Google (NASDAQ: GOOG).
Largest Institutional Shareholders
According to Yahoo Finance, institutional investors own about 79.14% of Meta’s total shares as of July 2024, and the number of institutions holding these shares is 5,068. The three largest institutional shareholders of Meta Platforms are Vanguard Group, BlackRock, and Fidelity Investments.
| Institutional shareholder | Shares held | % of total shares |
| Vanguard Group, Inc. | 187.18M | 8.54% |
| BlackRock, Inc. | 158.94M | 7.25% |
| Fidelity Investments | 136.75M | 6.24% |
Vanguard Group
Vanguard Group, Inc. holds 187.18 million shares of Meta Platforms, or 8.54% of total shares outstanding, according to SEC filings on December 30, 2023.
Vanguard is among the world’s largest investment companies and mutual fund and ETF managers, with approximately $8.6 trillion in global assets under management as of 2024. META was ranked as the 6th largest holding in the company’s portfolio with 1.44% of total assets according to the latest SEC report.
BlackRock
BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) owns 158.94 million Meta shares, or 7.25% of total shares outstanding, according to the Q4 2023 SEC filings.
BlackRock is the world’s largest investment firm and asset manager, with $10 trillion in assets under management as of December 31, 2023. Headquartered in New York City, it has multiple offices in 38 and operates in over 100 countries. Alongside Vanguard and State Street, it is considered a member of the Big Three index fund managers.
Fidelity Investments
Fidelity Investments, formerly Fidelity Management & Research (FMR), holds 136.75 million shares of Meta, or 6.24% of all company shares, according to the latest SEC filings.
As one of the widely recognized global financial services companies, Fidelity Investments is based in Boston, Massachusetts. It holds $4.9 trillion in assets under management and $12.6 trillion in assets under administration. Fidelity Investments operates a brokerage firm, manages mutual funds, and provides various business and investing services.
Meta’s stock performance
Although the public seemed skeptical about its Metaverse focus and recent staff sacking, since the start of 2023, the company has seen outstanding financial progress. As of 2024, the stock bounced back to become the second-best performing S&P 500 index component, behind only Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA).
Additionally, Meta’s Q1 2024 earnings report provided significant reassurance to investors by exceeding Wall Street expectations with $36.5 billion in revenue, reflecting a 27% year-over-year growth. Additionally, Meta achieved a net income of $12.4 billion and an EPS of $4.71, more than doubling from the same period last year.
Meta stock price today
As of July 18, 2024, Meta stock price stands at $461.99.
The bottom line
Although Mark Zuckerberg’s name is frequently associated with Meta, he is not the owner of the company. Meta Platforms is publicly traded, and Zuckerberg is its largest shareholder, but he owns 13.6% of the company’s shares, while 79.14% of the total shares outstanding is split between different institutional investors.
In light of Meta’s recent stellar stock performance, many investors decided to become one of the owners themselves by buying Meta stock. In fact, as Meta is a publicly traded company, you can acquire a piece of the social media giant yourself. Whether that would be the right move depends on the current market conditions and Meta stock price trends. Always do your own research before investing.
Disclaimer: The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.
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FAQs about who owns Meta
Who owns Meta Platforms?
Meta Platforms is owned by individual and institutional shareholders. The largest individual shareholder is Mark Zuckerberg, holding 13.6% of the company’s shares.
Who owns the majority stock of Meta?
The majority of Meta’s stock is owned by institutional investors, with the top three being Vanguard Group (8.54%), BlackRock (7.25%), and Fidelity Investments (6.24%).
Is Meta still owned by Facebook?
Meta is the rebranded name of Facebook, Inc. since 2021. Meta Platforms, Inc. owns and operates the now rebranded Facebook along with other platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp.
