Top Facebook (Meta) Shareholders

Meta Inc. is the holding company that owns Facebook, the largest social networking site in the world with 3.07 billion monthly active users (MAUs) as of year-end 2023. The Facebook website and app enable people to connect with family and friends and to share their opinions, ideas, images, and videos. Meta also owns and operates the popular photo-sharing app Instagram, the text-update app Thread, as well as messaging apps Messenger and WhatsApp. Additionally, the company provides virtual-reality hardware, software, and a developer ecosystem through its Reality Labs business.

The top shareholders of Meta are Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl K. Sandberg, Christopher K. Cox, Vanguard Inc., BlackRock Inc., and FMR LLC/Fidelity.

The company was founded as Facebook in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and three of his classmates at Harvard University. It went public in 2012 and has become one of the world's largest companies, with a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion as of April 15, 2024.

In 2021, Facebook Inc. changed its name to Meta Platforms Inc. It changed its ticker from FB to META in 2022.

For the trailing 12-month (TTM) period ended Dec. 31, 2023, Meta earned $46.8 billion in net income and $134.9 billion in revenue.

Top 3 Individual Insider Shareholders

The shares owned by individual insider shareholders are those that are held through direct ownership. Shares mentioned in this section do not include shares held indirectly nor shares accessible through stock options. Company insiders must file an SEC Form 4 every time they buy or sell an amount of the company's stock that is deemed to be material.

Mark Zuckerberg

Zuckerberg is Meta's largest shareholder by far. As mentioned, he co-founded Meta (META), then called Facebook, and has been the company's longtime chair and chief executive officer (CEO).

According to Forbes, Zuckerberg has a net worth of $175.4 billion as of April 15, 2024. He currently holds approximately 958,000 shares of Class A and 346.05 million shares of Class B with over 61% of voting power, as of Feb. 29, 2024.

Sheryl K. Sandberg

Sherly Sandberg was the Chief Operating Officer of Meta but stepped down in 2022. She also resigned from the board in 2024. Sandberg holds 1.37 million Class A shares, making her the second-largest individual shareholder of Meta. As of April 15, 2024, she has a net worth of $2.2 billion.

Christopher K. Cox

Christopher K. Cox is the current Chief Product Officer of Meta, a position he has held since 2014, with a brief gap between 2019 and 2020. He started at Facebook in 2005, holding various positions, becoming Vice President of Product in 2009. Cox is the third-largest individual shareholder of Meta, holding 379,336 Class A shares.

Top 3 Institutional Shareholders

Institutional investors hold about 79.65% of Meta's total shares outstanding, as of Dec. 30, 2023.

Institutional investors—institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in assets under management (AUM)—must file an SEC Form 13F every quarter to disclose their equity holdings. Individual investors may be considered institutional investors if they acquire 5% or more of a company's shares, thus requiring them to file either a Schedule 13D or Schedule 13G form.

Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard holds approximately 186.3 million shares of Meta, representing 8.47% of total shares outstanding, as of Dec. 30, 2023.

Vanguard is one of the world's largest investment management companies with about 430 traditional funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Vanguard is primarily a mutual fund and ETF management company and has about $7.8 trillion in global assets under management (AUM), as of Sept. 30, 2023.

The Vanguard Communication Services ETF (VOX), with $4.2 billion in assets under management, is one of many Vanguard funds holding Meta shares. Meta is the largest holding in this fund's portfolio, at about 23.22% of total invested assets.

BlackRock Inc.

BlackRock holds about 157.5 million shares of Meta, representing 7.16% of total shares outstanding, as of Dec. 30, 2023.

BlackRock is one of the world's leading asset and investment management firms with approximately $10 trillion in AUM as of Dec. 31, 2023. The company offers a wide range of mutual funds, iShares ETFs, and closed-end funds.

The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) is among one of BlackRock's largest ETFs with approximately $442.95 billion in AUM. Meta is the fifth-largest holding of this fund, at about 2.63% of invested assets.

FMR LLC/Fidelity Investments

FMR LLC, the parent organization of Fidelity Investments, holds about 134 million shares of Meta as of Dec. 30, 2023, which equates to approximately 6.1% of the company.

As with BlackRock and Vanguard, Fidelity is one of the largest investment advisors, providing a variety of financial services, including brokerage services, investment funds, and more. As of 2023, total assets under administration are valued at $12.6 trillion.

Fidelity manages the Fidelity Metaverse ETF (FMET), which uses the Fidelity Metaverse Index as its benchmark. Its second-largest holding as of Dec. 31, 2023, is Meta, representing 4.63% of holdings. The fund manages $23.8 million as of Dec. 31, 2023.

The Bottom Line

Facebook, now Meta, was a pioneer in the world of social media, and as of 2024, is still the most popular social media platform as measured by monthly active users. The company started as the brainchild of its founder and current CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, who is the largest individual shareholder.

The company is also owned by many institutional investors, the largest one being the investment management firm, Vanguard.