American billionaire Peter Thiel left Meta’s board of directors shortly after criticizing the company’s obsession with the meta universe
Criticism of Meta*’s (recognized by Russian authorities as extremist and banned in the country) plans for the meta universe cost American billionaire Peter Thiel a seat on the board of directors.
This was reported by Reuters, citing sources close to the company.
Reportedly, Thiel told Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg bluntly at a board meeting that the company was devoting little time to the social network, but was too focused on the meta-universe.
This allocation of priorities makes Meta vulnerable to a growing competitor in the form of TikTok, sources said, recalling details of the negotiations.
Peter Thiel has left the board in February 2022.
Peter Thiel left Meta’s board of directors in February 2022. The exact reason for his departure is still unknown..
According to media reports, Thiel wanted to focus on promoting his conservative political agenda ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. It is unclear whether the billionaire’s political ambitions have been realized.
This is not the first time that Meta has been urged to come to its senses and focus on its core business.
In October 2022, a 0.1% stakeholder in META, hedge fund Altimeter Capital Management, urged Zuckerberg to reduce the company’s staff and cut spending on developing the meta-universe.
According to Altimeter head Brad Gerstner, Meta’s substantial investment in “an unknown future is super-sized and terrifying even by Silicon Valley standards.”.
As a reminder, at the end of 2022, Meta has spent nearly $14 billion on virtual reality development.
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- But Meta’s efforts in the new direction are clearly not enough. Journalists from The Verge tried out the Quest Pro 2 virtual helmet and defeated the Horizon Worlds meta-universe.
- According to them, the helmet doesn’t always track eye position correctly, its charge lasts only two hours, and the technical part of the meta-universe is still raw. That said, Quest Pro starts at $1499 in the US.