Meta Inc. (META) is the holding company that owns Facebook, the largest social networking site in the world with 3.07 billion monthly active users (MAUs) as of year-end 2023. The Facebook website and app enable people to connect with family and friends and to share their opinions, ideas, images, and videos.
Meta also owns and operates the popular photo-sharing app Instagram, the text-update app Thread, and messaging apps Messenger and WhatsApp. The company additionally provides virtual-reality hardware, software, and a developer ecosystem through its Reality Labs business.
Meta's top shareholders are Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl K. Sandberg, Christopher K. Cox, Vanguard Inc., BlackRock Inc., and FMR LLC/Fidelity.
The company was founded as Facebook in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and three of his classmates at Harvard University. It went public in 2012. Facebook Inc. changed its name to Meta Platforms Inc in 2021 and it changed its ticker from FB to META in 2022.
Meta earned $46.8 billion in net income and $141.7 billion in revenue for the trailing 12-month (TTM) period as of July 2024. It's become one of the world's largest companies with a market capitalization of $1.181 trillion as of July 2024.
Key Takeaways
- Meta, formerly Facebook, is one of the most prominent technology companies in the world.
- Meta not only owns Facebook but also the popular social media and communications platforms Instagram and WhatsApp.
- Facebook is the most popular social media platform in the world as measured by monthly active users.
- The largest individual shareholder of Meta is its founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.
- The largest institutional shareholder of the company is Vanguard Group.
Top 3 Individual Insider Shareholders
The shares owned by individual insider shareholders are held through direct ownership. Shares mentioned in this section don't include shares held indirectly or shares accessible through stock options. Insiders must file anSEC Form 4whenever they buy or sell an amount of company stock deemed to be material.
"Insider" refers to people in senior management positions and members of the board of directors, as well as people or entities that own more than 10% of the company's stock. It has nothing to do with insider trading in this context.
Mark Zuckerberg
Zuckerberg is Meta's largest shareholder by far. He co-founded Meta (META), then called Facebook, and has been the company's longtime chair and chief executive officer (CEO).
Zuckerberg had a net worth of $175.4 billion as of April 15, 2024, according to Forbes. He held approximately 958,000 shares of Class A and 346.05 million shares of Class B with over 61% voting power as of Feb. 29, 2024.
Sheryl K. Sandberg
Sherly Sandberg was the Chief Operating Officer of Meta but stepped down in 2022. She also resigned from the board in 2024. She had a net worth of $2.1 billion as of July 2024.
Sandberg held 1.37 million Class A shares as of February 2024, making her the second-largest individual shareholder of Meta.
Christopher K. Cox
Christopher K. Cox is the Chief Product Officer of Meta, a position he's held since 2014 with a brief gap between 2019 and 2020. He started at Facebook in 2005, holding various positions and becoming Vice President, Product in 2009.
Cox is the third-largest individual shareholder of Meta, holding 379,336 Class A shares.
Top 3 Institutional Shareholders
Institutional investors held about 79.09% of Meta's total shares outstanding as of July 2024.
Institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in assets under management (AUM) must file an SEC Form 13F every quarter to disclose their equity holdings. Individual investors can be considered institutional investors if they acquire 5% or more of a company's shares, requiring them to file either a Schedule 13D or Schedule 13G form.
Vanguard Group Inc.
Vanguard held approximately 187.18 million shares of Meta, representing 8.54% of total shares outstanding as of March 2024.
Vanguard is one of the world's largest investment management companies with about 430 traditional funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). It's primarily a mutual fund and ETF management company and had about $7.8 trillion in global assets under management (AUM) as of Sept. 30, 2023.
The Vanguard Communication Services ETF (VOX) has $4.2 billion in assets under management and is one of many Vanguard funds holding Meta shares. Meta is the largest holding in this fund's portfolio at about 23.22% of total invested assets.
BlackRock Inc.
BlackRock held about 158.9 million shares of Meta, representing 7.16% of total shares outstanding, as of March 2024.
BlackRock is one of the world's leading asset and investment management firms with approximately $10 trillion in AUM as of Dec. 31, 2023. The company offers a wide range of mutual funds, iShares ETFs, and closed-end funds.
The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) is among one of BlackRock's largest ETFs with approximately $442.95 billion in AUM. Meta is the fifth-largest holding of this fund at about 2.63% of invested assets.
FMR, LLC/Fidelity Investments
FMR, LLC is the parent organization of Fidelity Investments. It held about 136.7 million shares of Meta as of March 2024 which represents approximately 6.1% of the company.
Fidelity is one of the largest investment advisors along with BlackRock and Vanguard, providing a variety of financial services including brokerage services and investment funds. Total assets under administration were valued at $12.6 trillion in 2023.
Fidelity manages the Fidelity Metaverse ETF (FMET) which uses the Fidelity Metaverse Index as its benchmark. Meta was its second-largest holding as of Dec. 31, 2023, representing 4.63% of holdings. The fund managed $23.8 million as of Dec. 31, 2023.
Who Are the Shareholders of Meta?
Meta is a public company so it has many shareholders. Some of its largest institutional shareholders include Vanguard, Fidelity, BlackRock, State Street, JP Morgan, and Geode Capital.
What Percent of Meta Does Zuckerberg Own?
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Meta, owns approximately 13.5% of Meta.
How Large Is Meta?
Meta owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. It had a market capitalization of $1.181 trillion as of July 2024.
The Bottom Line
Facebook, now Meta, was a pioneer in the world of social media and it's still the most popular social media platform as measured by monthly active users in 2024. The company started as the brainchild of its founder and current CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, who is the largest individual shareholder.
The company is also owned by many institutional investors, the largest being the investment management firm Vanguard.
Do you have a news tip for Investopedia reporters? Please email us at
tips@investopedia.com
