What was the original name of Meta Platforms before its 2021 corporate rebrand?

Meta Platforms was originally named Facebook, Inc.

Facebook, Inc. changed its corporate name to Meta Platforms, Inc. in October 2021. The rebrand separated the parent company's identity from Facebook, its flagship social-networking service, and emphasized the company's interest in building the metaverse. The company continued to operate Facebook under its existing product name after the corporate change.

Facebook began as a social-networking website launched in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and fellow Harvard students. The company expanded through products and acquisitions including Instagram, acquired in 2012, and WhatsApp, acquired in 2014. These businesses helped make the parent company one of the world's largest technology companies by market capitalization.

A frequent mistake is saying that Facebook itself was renamed Meta. The corporate parent changed its name, but Facebook remained the name of the social network. Meta's stock-market ticker also changed from FB to META when the rebranding took effect.