Shares of Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) climbed higher Thursday after the company announced job cuts. With shares trading higher, Meta CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg also saw his wealth soar, potentially at the expense of some of his company's employees.
Meta Stock Gains, Zuckerberg's Wealth Moves Higher
Meta stock closed Wednesday at $661.53 and opened for trading Thursday at $664.50. The stock hit an intraday high of $676.10 before closing at $673.07, up 1.7%. Meta shares are also trading higher on Friday, potentially due to the news.
A report Thursday said Meta could conduct layoffs as early as January, with budget cuts of around 30% planned for the company's metaverse group.
The company's metaverse unit has lost more than $70 billion since 2021. Once a key focus of the company's growth, investors have put pressure on the unit due to losses and lower-than-expected adoption of virtual worlds.
With ownership of around 13% of Meta Platforms, Zuckerberg was one of the big gainers from the boost in Meta's stock price on Thursday.
Zuckerberg gained $7.5 billion in wealth with an estimated total of $234 billion, as reported by Bloomberg. Zuckerberg currently ranks as the sixth-richest person in the world, adding $26.3 billion to his wealth year-to-date.
While the Meta CEO enjoyed a strong Thursday and is up year-to-date, he has fallen down the top 10 billionaires list due to others having bigger gains in 2025. Zuckerberg finished 2024 ranked third, with a net worth of $207 billion.
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Meta's Big Job Cuts, New Focuses
The latest round of budget cuts and potential job losses come on top of changes at the company in recent years.
Meta announced 600 job cuts in October, primarily from within its AI division.
Earlier this year, the company also announced performance-based job cuts from multiple divisions.
In 2022 and 2023, Meta was aggressive with job cuts, with both years resulting in more than 10,000 employees being let go.
After putting heavy emphasis on the metaverse and virtual reality, Meta's latest spending moves highlight aggressive moves in the AI space. The latest job cuts and reduced metaverse spending could free up resources for Meta to accelerate its AI ambitions.
META Stock Gains
Meta shares are up 1.5% to $671.30 on Friday versus a 52-week trading range of $479.80 to $796.25. Meta shares are up 12.0% year-to-date in 2025.
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