Meta has spent $15 billion so far on its metaverse project. Here are some incredible things that cost less.

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Samantha DelouyaOct 16, 2022, 18:06 IST
Meta has spent $15 billion so far on its metaverse project. Here are some incredible things that cost less.

Mark Zuckerberg showed off his avatar's legs by jumping in the Horizon Worlds metaverse.Meta

  • Meta's losses from its Reality Labs project total $15 billion since last year, with no end in sight.
  • Meta's losses have come under scrutiny after some were disappointed in Mark Zuckerberg's recent update on the metaverse.

Meta's losses from its metaverse project keep stacking up.

The tech giant reported $10 billion in losses last year, and more than $5 billion so far in 2022, with many experts projecting the pace of losses to accelerate even further.

Meta has said it's spending this massive amount of money on research, development, and employee-related costs, but the precise details of where that money has gone are fuzzy.

Meta's piling losses have come under intense scrutiny after some found CEO Mark Zuckerberg's most recent update on the company's progress disappointing. One analyst called the company's push into the metaverse "desperate."

The hefty price tag on Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse project appears even more substantial when it's put into perspective.

Here are other incredible things that cost less than the amount Meta has reported as losses on its Reality Labs project since last year.

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So far, Meta's losses from Reality Labs have ballooned to more than the total market caps of American Airlines, JetBlue, Spirit, and Frontier Airlines combined.

So far, Meta's losses from Reality Labs have ballooned to more than the total market caps of American Airlines, JetBlue, Spirit, and Frontier Airlines combined.
American Airlines 777-300ER.Nik Oiko/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

These airlines have seen significant cuts to their market caps this year, due to the market downturn. Still, the combined market caps for these four airlines currently total $14.75 billion.

It would cost less to buy both the Dallas Cowboys and the New England Patriots, which are the two most valuable sports franchises in the entire world, according to Forbes.

It would cost less to buy both the Dallas Cowboys and the New England Patriots, which are the two most valuable sports franchises in the entire world, according to Forbes.
Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Forbes recently estimated the cost of the Cowboys to be $8 billion, and the Patriots to be $6.4 billion, totalling $14.4 billion.

Or, if you want more bang for your buck, it would cost less than $15 billion to buy the Brooklyn Nets ($3.2 billion), the Arizona Cardinals ($3.27 billion), the LA Clippers ($3.3 billion), and the Buffalo Bills ($3.4 billion). All four are also considered some of the world's most expensive sports teams, according to Forbes.

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Meta's Reality Labs losses total more than the GDP of many small countries.

Meta's Reality Labs losses total more than the GDP of many small countries.
Prime Minister of Jamaica Andrew HolnessGetty Images

The World Bank's most recent GDP estimates put Jamaica's GDP at $13.6 billion, and Armenia's at $13.8 billion.

The average salary for a public school teacher is $65,090 in the US, according to the Department of Education.

The average salary for a public school teacher is $65,090 in the US, according to the Department of Education.
Shot of a teacher assisting a struggling student with schoolwork in a classroomStock Photo/Getty Images

$15 billion could pay the salaries of 230,450 teachers for one year. Or one teacher's salary for 230,450 years!

Source: National Center for Education Statistics

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It would cost less to buy the 10 most expensive pieces of art ever sold, which includes works by Da Vinci, Rembrandt, and Picasso.

It would cost less to buy the 10 most expensive pieces of art ever sold, which includes works by Da Vinci, Rembrandt, and Picasso.
The most expensive painting ever soldLeonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi." Painted in 1500

The 10 most expensive works of art sold only come to a little more than $2.5 billion in total.

The Mona Lisa was assessed at a value of $100 million in 1962, which would be $860 million in 2022. You could buy 17 Mona Lisas with $15 billion.

The White House is valued at nearly $400 million, according to real-estate listings firm Zillow.

The White House is valued at nearly $400 million, according to real-estate listings firm Zillow.
The White House is seen from Lafayette Park on July 10, 2022 in Washington, DC.Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

Meta's losses for Reality Labs are 3,750x more money than that.

Source: Insider

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Funding Uber for its first four years of operation cost less than $15 billion.

Funding Uber for its first four years of operation cost less than $15 billion.
Travis Kalanick, co-founder and former CEO of UberSouth China Morning Post / Contributor

In the first four years of Uber, the company raised $13,519,400,000, according to Pitchbook. The company currently has a market cap of nearly $50 billion.

The first ever computer cost $400,000 to complete in 1945.

The first ever computer cost $400,000 to complete in 1945.
ENIAC, the world's first ever general purpose computer.University of Pennsylvania

The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, or ENIAC, was developed in Philadelphia and cost a paltry $6.088 million if you adjust for inflation.

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The current US population is 332,403,650.

The current US population is 332,403,650.
Crowd of people in Times SquareAlexander Spatari

Meta's Reality Labs endeavor has so far cost the equivalent of $45 for every person in the US.

Developing both the Hubble Space telescope and the new James Webb telescope cost the US government less than $15 billion.

Developing both the Hubble Space telescope and the new James Webb telescope cost the US government less than $15 billion.
First image released from the James Webb Space Telescope on July 11, 2022NASA

Hubble's development cost $1.5 billion by the time it was launched in 1990. In today's dollars that would be about $3.4 billion. Webb, which released its first images in July, cost approximately $10 billion. Webb was originally estimated to cost between $1 billion to $3.5 billion, but was delayed and went over budget.

Even so, the cost of the two telescopes combined would be less than Meta's losses from Reality Labs.

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The world's most expensive burger is $5,000. You could buy 3 million of them (excluding taxes).

The world's most expensive burger is $5,000. You could buy 3 million of them (excluding taxes).
The Fleurburger 5000MGM Resorts International

The burger features wagyu beef, seared foie gras, and black truffle shavings. It's also served with a bottle of 1995 Chateau Petrus from Bordeaux. Enjoy!

The military costs for the entire American Revolutionary War were less than $15 billion.

The military costs for the entire American Revolutionary War were less than $15 billion.
Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel LeutzeEmanuel Leutze

A 2011 report from the Congressional Research Service on military costs from major US wars estimated that the American Revolution cost $2.407 billion, in 2011 dollars. Eleven years later, that would come to about $3.18 billion.

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