Giving Mark Zuckerberg Unquestioned Power Was Asking for Trouble
Like absolute power, handing out super-voting shares can end badly
Mark Zuckerberg testified to Congress in 2019.
Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North AmericaSplashing tens of billions of dollars on building the metaverse has gone down like a lead avatar with Meta Platforms Inc. shareholders, with its market capitalization down by about three-quarters from its peak of $1.1 trillion reached barely a year ago.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has gone rogue, but I find myself unsympathetic to shareholders’ plight. Nobody forced them to purchase Meta stock and founder hubris is a risk you take when granting entrepreneurs nearly unfettered and indefinite control via super-voting shares. The dangers were clearly spelled out in Facebook’s 2012 initial public offering prospectus and subsequent financial filings.
QuickTake: Dual-class shares