Meta Platforms Inc., formerly known as Facebook, participated in the worst trading session in history last Thursday, with its stock plummeting by 26% and its market value falling by more than $230 billion. Following the crash, the company’s earnings report came in on Wednesday to disclose news on declining users and surging expenses related to the company’s Metaverse project. Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive officer, informed the media that the company was still transitioning from being a social networking platform to the world of the Metaverse.

According to Bloomberg Data, the drastic drop in the company’s market capitalization is on track to be the biggest wipeout ever in United States market history. Not only that, Zuckerberg’s net worth plunged by $28.6 billion, according to Forbes’ calculations. Now, the entrepreneur’s net worth is around $85.9 billion, dropping below the $100 billion threshold for the first time since last year.

Due to the underwhelming earnings report, many investors dumped shares of Meta, and there were reports of the loss of daily users for the first time in history. As business on its core platform slowed down, executives blamed the increased competition from TikTok for its decline. Facebook lost an estimated half a million users over the fourth quarter from the previous quarter. This dip may be a signal that Facebook has reached its peak. The quarterly user growth rate was also the slowest it has been in the last three years.

“The future of the market is with the Metaverse. It may be a huge gamble now but I believe it will surely pay off in the upcoming years,” junior Gian Castro said.

Zuckerberg is asking the public to have faith in the Metaverse, even if it is a theoretical concept that involves people moving across different virtual and augmented reality worlds. Just last year, the chairman spent more than $10 billion and expects to spend even more in the near future on the Metaverse. He is asking employees, investors and users to believe in the costly Metaverse vision.