--- title: "Mark Zuckerberg Still Bleeding Money on Metaverse" description: "Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is still losing billions of dollars in his efforts to build out his virtual reality metaverse." date: "2024-02-03" modified: "2024-02-03" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/mark-zuckerberg-still-bleeding-money-metaverse" categories: - "Future Society" - "Metaverse" - "Virtual Reality" tags: - "mark zuckerberg" - "Meta" - "the digest" - "threads" - "vr headsets" --- # Mark Zuckerberg Still Bleeding Money on Metaverse ![Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is still losing billions of dollars in his efforts to build out his virtual reality metaverse.]() *\Image: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images\* ## Bleeding Billions For years, Facebook's parent company Meta has been bleeding billions of dollars in its efforts to build [bulky headsets]() and [half-baked]() VR experiences. Between 2019 and 2022, the company spent a [whopping $36 billion]() on its Reality Labs division, seemingly spearheaded by CEO Mark Zuckerberg's personal affinity for the technology. Even several well-reviewed iterations of the company's Quest headset haven't been able to quell the bleeding. Between the beginning of 2022 and July 2023, the company has logged a loss of [upwards of $21 billion]() on the project. All told, the company has now [lost $42 billion]() since the end of 2020. In Q4 of last year, the company Reality Labs [recorded]() just over $1 billion in revenue (Meta's total revenue was $40.1 billion) to reach a much-delayed milestone. While that may sound like an important achievement, the company's metaverse division *lost* a whopping $4.6 billion that same quarter, an [operating loss record](). In other words, Zuckerberg's [cartoonish vision]() of a VR future is still a seemingly bottomless money pit. ## Doubling Down According to a recent analysis by research firm Circana, VR and AR headset sales and glasses [dropped almost 40 percent]() in 2023. Appetite for the technology, particularly among young users, has [cratered](). Whether Apple's [recently announced Vision Pro headset]() will inject some much-needed enthusiasm remains to be seen, especially considering the device's eye-watering price tag of $3,500. Despite its Reality Labs division still bleeding billions of dollars, investors are willing to stand by the CEO's leadership. Other than his VR efforts, they have some good reason: Meta's stock [climbed by more than 20 percent]() today following its earnings report, adding $200 billion in market cap. It's possibly the biggest surge in stock-market history, [per *Bloomberg*](). **More on Meta:** *[Facebook Approves Disgusting Pro-Anorexia and Drug Ads Targeted at Teens and Made With Its Own AI]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()