As Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg lay off thousands of workers in pursuit of their personal visions for the future of the internet, the fate of Twitter and Facebook rests in the hands of these two billionaires, experts say — and the outcome for the two iconic Bay Area technology firms is far from clear.
Under CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook parent Meta is hemorrhaging billions of dollars in pursuit of an immersive online world Zuckerberg calls “the metaverse” and touts as the future of social life, work, entertainment and commerce. And under CEO and recent buyer Elon Musk, Twitter is sending advertisers fleeing and revenue plunging as Musk pursues a purported free-speech agenda he claims will foster diverse viewpoints and allow users to crowd-source truth.
“These are risky bets by Musk and Zuckerberg and so far they have backfired in epic fashion,” said technology-industry analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities.
