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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2026

Independently reported.

Tech

Facebook Renames Its Parent Company Meta, Betting the Future on the Metaverse

MENLO PARK, Calif., Oct.

By Mara Voss, Technology

· 2 min read

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A virtual reality headset and two controllers on a conference table beside an open laptop
Illustration: Trestlewire

What to know

  • •The metaverse is the idea of shared digital spaces where people can work, play, exercise and meet, usually through a headset or glasses.
  • •The company said its corporate structure is not changing, but how it reports its finances will.
  • •Facebook said the original app launched in 2004 and that the new brand unites its apps and technologies under one company name.
  • •The new ticker takes effect in about five weeks, and the two-segment reporting begins with fourth-quarter results.

The short answer

MENLO PARK, Calif., Oct. 28 - Facebook is changing the name of its parent company to Meta. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced the change Thursday at the company's annual Connect conference, which this year focused on augmented and virtual reality. "I'm proud to announce our company is now Meta," Zuckerberg said.

MENLO PARK, Calif., Oct. 28 - Facebook is changing the name of its parent company to Meta. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced the change Thursday at the company's annual Connect conference, which this year focused on augmented and virtual reality.

"I'm proud to announce our company is now Meta," Zuckerberg said. He said it was "time for us to adopt a new company brand to encompass everything that we do." The Facebook name, he added, "just doesn't encompass everything we do," and "Over time, I hope that we are seen as a metaverse company."

The metaverse is the idea of shared digital spaces where people can work, play, exercise and meet, usually through a headset or glasses. Zuckerberg described it as the next chapter for the company's work and said uses would reach beyond games into fitness, work, travel, learning and commerce. He said the company aims to reach 1 billion metaverse users within ten years.

The apps will not change names. Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp stay as they are, now under the Meta umbrella. The company said Meta's focus is to bring the metaverse to life and help people connect, find communities and grow businesses. The Facebook social network is the same service it was yesterday.

The company said its corporate structure is not changing, but how it reports its finances will. Starting with fourth-quarter results, Meta plans to report two operating segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The company also said it intends to begin trading under a new ticker, MVRS, on Dec. 1. The current symbol is FB. It said the announcement "does not affect how we use or share data."

Facebook said the original app launched in 2004 and that the new brand unites its apps and technologies under one company name.

Why it matters: The rename arrives after weeks of bad press. Frances Haugen, a former employee, leaked a large set of internal documents that revealed internal conflicts and shortcomings, and speculation about a rebrand followed. Zuckerberg has not resigned, and the company has not been broken up.

The metaverse push also gets its own line in the books. Reality Labs, the unit built around augmented and virtual reality, will be reported as a separate segment from the apps.

The new ticker takes effect in about five weeks, and the two-segment reporting begins with fourth-quarter results.

  • facebook
  • meta
  • metaverse
  • zuckerberg
  • connect
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Sources

  1. 01Introducing Meta: A Social Technology Company, Meta (Facebook company blog)about.fb.com
  2. 02Facebook changes name to Meta to reflect new metaverse focus, Fortunefortune.com
  3. 03Facebook officially changes its name to Meta, 9to5Mac9to5mac.com
  4. 04Meta Platforms, Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

Corrections

No corrections have been made to this article.

About the reporter

Mara Voss

Technology Reporter, Trestlewire

My first published story, in the spring of 2004, was about a database company whose new release had been announced three separate times. I knew it had been announced three times because I had signed off on two of the announcements. I spent seven years as a product manager in enterprise software before I switched sides, and the habit that came with me is a single question: does this ship, or is it a demo.

Read full bio and all stories →

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