Since its founding in 2004, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB), formerly known as Facebook, has acquired roughly 94 companies. The corporation employs a variety of intensive growth techniques, the most important of which is asset diversification.
This rigorous strategy aims to create new businesses while driving out or swallowing competitors. For example, in 2012, Facebook paid $1 billion for the photo-sharing app Instagram, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg later disclosed was posing a danger to the company's growth.
The bottom line is that, when threatened, colossal corporations such as Meta will simply buy their competitors rather than compete with them.
What other companies did Meta buy? How much did they spend? Has the business returned profits to Meta Platforms?
Instagram: $1 billion
Acquired on: April 9, 2012
2021 revenue: $47.6 billion
As mentioned above, Meta bought Instagram as the photo-sharing app was siphoning company growth. Meta quickly released the ability to share photos to Facebook from Instagram in 2012 to integrate through the then-growing social media platform.
WhatsApp: $19 billion
Acquired on: Feb 19, 2014
2021 revenue: $8.7 billion
Meta bought WhatsApp because it was a rising competitor and could potentially damage Facebook. In doing so, Meta blocked the messaging service from being purchased by other tech rivals.
Oculus VR: $2.6 billion
Acquired on: March 25, 2014
2021 revenue: $2.2 billion
Zuckerberg substantiated the acquisition of Oculus with belief that virtual reality (VR) can be the next central computing platform. “This is really a new communication platform. By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life,” he told Business Insider in 2014. The Oculus device sold an estimated 7 million units in 2021.
Kustomer: $1 billion
Acquired on: November 2020
2019 revenue: $60 million
After a year of anti-trust scrutiny, Meta was allowed to complete its purchase of customer service platform Kustomer to “increase competition and bring more innovation to businesses and consumers in the dynamic and competitive CRM and business messaging spaces," a Meta spokesperson said about the acquisition.
According to Techwyse, Meta has spent approximately $23.36 billion on its 94 acquisitions. That amount of money is more than Zimbabwe's gross-domestic product (GDP) and the Maldives combined.
Photo: Iryna Dincer via Shutterstock
