- Mark Zuckerberg told shareholders that creating the metaverse will bleed money for 3 to 5 years.
- The Meta CEO told its annual meeting that some products will not be ready for 15 years.
- Facebook owner spent $10 billion on the idea of an immersive virtual world in 2021 alone.
Meta's metaverse project will lose "significant" amounts of money over the next three to five years, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told shareholders on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported.
His comments came in response to one shareholder's question on return on investment at the Facebook owner's annual meeting on Wednesday.
Many of Meta's products for an "embodied internet", where users would be immersed in a virtual world, are not likely to be viable for 10 to 15 years, according to its board.
"We want to get the hardware to be as affordable as possible for everyone, and make sure the digital economy grows," Zuckerberg told shareholders, Bloomberg reported.
In 2021 alone, Meta spent $10 billion on designing its metaverse. It has 10,000 employees working on Zuckerberg's vision and wants to hire an additional 10,000 to work on the project.
However, those plans are likely to be on hold after Meta imposed a hiring freeze in early May amid anticipation of an economic slowdown.
Eventually, the metaverse would generate revenue by becoming a platform for creators and businesses to sell virtual products and services.
At Wednesday's meeting, 12 shareholder proposals were rejected. Zuckerberg still holds a controlling stake in Meta.
One called for Meta to commission a report and hold a shareholder vote on whether the "continued implementation" of the metaverse was "prudent and appropriate."
Former and current Facebook employees told Insider in April that Zuckerberg is interested in little except the metaverse but lacks a coherent strategy for the project he regards as the future of the internet.
Other proposals included making changes to Meta's use of concealment clauses in employment contracts related to harassment and discrimination, the publication of an independent human rights impact assessment, and full disclosure of its lobbying and public policy activity.