Zuckerberg’s Meta Pivot Is ‘Quite Odd’

• IAC founder Barry Diller said “something is quite odd” in Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse pivot.
• The billionaire questioned Zuckerberg’s decision to focus on tech that “doesn’t yet exist.”
• Meta has shed over 70% of its value since the Facebook founder changed its name.

Media mogul Barry Diller had some harsh words for Mark Zuckerberg on Monday.

The founder of IAC, an internet and media conglomerate, said he has “great respect” for Zuckerberg, but questioned the Facebook founder’s decision to pivot toward the metaverse, a digital universe where users interact via avatars.

Diller has made billions in founding and investing in top media companies like Expedia Group, Fox Broadcasting Company and USA Broadcasting.  The 80-year-old is currently worth about $3.8 billion, per Forbes’ World’s Billionaires List.

“If you change the name of your company to something that doesn’t yet exist to bury what does wildly exist successfully, something is quite odd in that,” Diller said in an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box.

A spokesperson for Meta did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.

After changing the name of Facebook’s parent company to Meta last year, Zuckerberg has overhauled Facebook with a vision of creating a world where people connect in a digital universe using virtual and augmented reality devices. The Facebook founder has spent $15 billion so far on the project and has said that one day the metaverse will be the way that people “interact with the world.”

But, critics have said the technology is just not there yet. Competitors like Snap and Apple have shied away from the term. Avatars in Meta’s Horizon World’s don’t even have legs yet and many users have taken to social media to mock Meta’s poor graphics.

At the same time, Meta’s value has plummeted amid Zuckerberg’s metaverse push…