Mark Zuckerberg told Meta employees to zero in on video because they're up against an 'unprecedented level of competition' from TikTok, report says

• Meta's recent quarter included $10 billion in losses in the metaverse and its first-ever decline in users.
• CEO Mark Zuckerberg told staff Thursday the company was up against "unprecedented" competition from TikTok, according to Bloomberg.

After Meta posted brutal fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly told employees to home in on the company's way out: video.

Bloomberg reports that Zuckerberg addressed staff in a companywide virtual meeting Thursday, where he said the company is up against an "unprecedented level of competition" from TikTok, according to an attendee not authorized to speak about the call.

Zuckerberg had said in an earnings call Wednesday that Meta would be zeroing in on Instagram Reels, its TikTok clone.

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"People have a lot of choices for how they want to spend their time and apps like TikTok are growing very quickly," he said.

The meeting attendee added that Zuckerberg appeared red-eyed and told staff he might tear up during the meeting, not because of the material being discussed but rather because he'd "scratched his eye," Bloomberg reports.

Facebook's Q4 earnings revealed the company's users shrunk for the first time in its history, losing roughly 1 million daily active users from the previous quarter. In the Wednesday earnings call, the company also reported having lost $10 billion on its investments in the metaverse in 2021.

Meta's valuation fell by nearly $240 billion on Thursday, marking the biggest one-day wipeout of value in US stock market history. Zuckerberg's net worth plummeted by roughly $30 billion.

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.