Zuckerberg’s $45 Billion Metaverse Just Died The Most Embarrassing Death

Zuckerberg spent $45 billion building virtual worlds. Now he’s copying Apple’s 20-year-old playbook.

Meta

Mark Zuckerberg has a confession to make.

• He doesn’t believe in the metaverse anymore.
• He doesn’t think virtual is better than physical.
• He doesn’t think his $45 billion bet will pay off.

How do I know?

Because Meta is opening physical retail stores.

Yes, you read that right.

The company that promised we’d all live, work, and play in virtual worlds is now hiring retail employees to sell headsets in brick-and-mortar stores.

Just like Apple did 23 years ago.

The $45 billion about-face

Let’s talk numbers that would make your head spin.

Meta has burned through $45 billion on Reality Labs since 2020.

• $13.7 billion lost in 2022
• $16.1 billion lost in 2023
• $15.3 billion lost in 2024

That’s more than NASA’s entire annual budget.