Meta Platforms changed its corporate name from Facebook, Inc. before pursuing its metaverse strategy.
The name change was announced in October 2021, as the company sought to signal that its future extended beyond the Facebook social network. Meta described the metaverse as an interconnected collection of virtual and augmented-reality experiences, supported by hardware, software, and online services.
The publicly traded parent company continued to own major platforms including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Its market capitalization therefore represented the value of the entire corporate group, not just the Facebook website.
The rebranding did not mean that Facebook disappeared immediately. Facebook remained the name of one of Meta’s products, while Meta became the name of the holding company and its stock continued trading under the ticker symbol META. This distinction matters when comparing company valuations.