Meta Platforms became the first publicly traded company valued at $1 trillion after founding as a social network.
Meta crossed the $1 trillion market-capitalization mark in June 2021. The company was then known as Facebook, Inc.; it changed its corporate name to Meta Platforms in October 2021 to emphasize its broader focus on virtual and augmented reality, the metaverse, and its family of social applications.
The company began with Facebook, a social-networking service launched from Harvard in 2004. It later expanded through products and acquisitions involving Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, giving it a huge global user base and a large digital-advertising business.
Meta’s valuation was not based only on Facebook. Investors also valued its other platforms, advertising technology, cash generation, and future growth plans. The company’s stock-market value has moved substantially as advertising demand, privacy changes, regulation, and AI investments affected expectations.