Why Investors Could Vote In Favor Of Checking Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s Power

Shareholders claim that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s leadership is causing the company’s stock to tumble. 

As a result, SumofUs, a corporate accountability group, is working with investors to resolve this ongoing issue by sending a report to over 4,000 investor groups that have stakes in Meta.   

Within the report, SumOfUs lists three issues that are hindering Meta’s business: Apple and Google’s new privacy policies, antitrust lawsuits that are targeting Big Tech, and claims that Zuckerberg ignored reports that reveals the negative impact of Instagram on teens. 

“When you see a loss of over $230 billion in February, that shakes up everybody, and that should be a sign that it’s time for change,” said Christina O’Connell, shareholder engagement advisor at SumOfUs.  

According to reports, investors are seeking to enact resolutions that will check Zuckerberg’s power and provide oversight for Facebook, Instagram, and the company’s metaverse endeavors. 

The first resolution will seek an external assessment of the company’s Audit and Risk Oversight Committee, which is intended to be independent from Meta’s board. 

The second will focus on how the company’s focus on the metaverse could further lead to “psychological and civil and humans rights harms.” As it is in its infancy, the metaverse is a Wild West which some worry could lead to privacy risks, harassment, hate speech, and other issues that were seen during the onset of the Internet.  

“Meta has been unable to manage its problems here now in the world where we’re all living, so it’s pretty shocking that they want to move into a more complex platform such as the metaverse,” said O’Connell. 

At the moment, Meta’s board is pushing back against these resolutions. Investors will submit their votes on these proposals ahead of Meta’s annual shareholder meeting on May 25.