In an open letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Monday, shareholder Altimeter Capital Management urged Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, to streamline by eliminating positions and capital expenditures.
 
The technology-focused hedge fund with a 0.1% ownership claimed that the company had lost investor confidence as it increased spending and switched to the metaverse and offered a three-step solution.
 
Altimeter said that by cutting staff by at least 20%, reducing capital expenditure by at least $5 billion to $25 billion annually, and capping yearly investment in the metaverse at $5 billion as opposed to the current $10 billion, annual free cash flow could be doubled to $40 billion. (Also Read: Solar eclipse after Diwali 2022: Date, timings in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru)
 

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In order to create the metaverse, which is a shared digital environment that makes use of augmented or virtual reality technologies to make it feel more realistic, Meta has invested billions of dollars and hired thousands of workers from all over the world.
 
But the company's dreams have fallen short as the Reality Labs unit, which works on augmented and virtual reality, has continuously reported staggering losses. It lost $5.8 billion in the first six months of the year.
 
Altimeter said such huge investments "in an unknown future are super-sized and terrifying, even by Silicon Valley standards".
 
In response to a Reuters request for comment, Meta Platforms—which is scheduled to release third-quarter earnings on Wednesday after markets close—did not immediately react.
 
Brad Gerstner, the chair of Altimeter who promoted strong investment in AI, stated that the company wanted to interact with Meta but had no demands.
 
The social media business had reduced its ambitions to hire engineers by at least 30% in June, and Mark Zuckerberg had advised staff to prepare for a slowdown in the economy.