Category: Business Insider

• Commercial foreclosures jumped 117% year-to-date in March, data from ATTOM shows.
• It reflects difficulty for the real-estate market, which has been hurt by high interest rates. 
• Offices have led the drawdown, with sector delinquency rates still rising in the first quarter.

The commercial real estate market is still struggling, made all the more clear by the rapid upswing in property foreclosures. 

Foreclosure activity jumped by 117% year-over-year in March, real estate data provider ATTOM reported on Wednesday. That indicates 625 foreclosures, a stark contrast to the pandemic lows, where foreclosures bottomed at 141 in May 2020.

As COVID-era aid and foreclosure moratoriums helped keep levels low in recent years, the current surge could in part reflect some normalization, as has been happening in residential real-estate. While high, commercial foreclosures are still under a 2014 peak of 889.

The rising trend partly stems from higher interest rates, which have battered the sector's ability to service debts and raised concerns about defaults rippling through the market. 

With billions in commercial debt maturing, tighter monetary policy has forced borrowers to either refinance at higher rates or sell their properties at steep discounts. For those that extend their maturities, analysts worry it's just delaying a wave of distress, with $2.2 trillion in debt coming due by 2027.

Bearing the brunt of these issues is the office sector, which is also burdened by falling demand amid entrenched remote work.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, offices were the only commercial segment where delinquencies kept rising in the first quarter, with rates unchanged for all other sectors. 6.8% of office loan balances were 30 or more days late, an increase from last quarter's 6.5%. 

"Loans across property types are adjusting to higher interest rates and uncertainty about property values, but the continued fog around the impact of hybrid work adds another challenge for office properties and their loans," Head of Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell said in the report.

Earlier this month, Fitch Ratings warned of a rising global contagion risk from commercial real-estate losses. Through 2024, its estimates that three-fourths of US conduit office loans will default.

"Lower-quality and older vintage office properties should see the greatest risk from this reduced demand, and are likely to face outsized property value declines and even obsolescence," it said. "This is already evident in some high-profile U.S. office markets and, increasingly, in gateway European cities with rising vacancies."

The ratings agency previously forecast the office price crash to be worse than 2008's financial crisis.

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• Meta released the first two versions of its Llama 3 large language model on Thursday.
• The technology powers Meta AI, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg calls "the most intelligent AI assistant that you can freely use."
• Meta says the new models have improved reasoning and code generation, as well as more diverse responses.

Meta's large language model and AI assistant are getting upgrades.

On Thursday, the company released the first models of Llama 3 in two sizes, 8B and 70B parameters. They've also been integrated into Meta AI, the company's AI assistant.

"With this new model, we believe Meta AI is now the most intelligent AI assistant that you can freely use," CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday in an Instagram post.

Meta said in a blog post Thursday its newest models saw "substantially reduced false refusal rates, improved alignment, and increased diversity in model responses," as well as progress in reasoning, generating code, and instruction.

"With Llama 3, we set out to build the best open models that are on par with the best proprietary models available today," the post reads. "This next generation of Llama demonstrates state-of-the-art performance on a wide range of industry benchmarks and offers new capabilities, including improved reasoning. We believe these are the best open source models of their class, period."

Though Meta bills Llama as open-source, Llama 2 required companies with more than 700 million monthly active users to request a license from the company to use it, which Meta may or may not grant.

In the near future, Meta hopes to "make Llama 3 multilingual and multimodal, have longer context, and continue to improve overall performance across core LLM capabilities such as reasoning and coding," the company said in the blog post.

So what do the changes mean for Meta AI now?

The AI assistant can help with tasks like recommending restaurants, planning trips, and making your emails sound more professional.

Using Meta AI's Imagine feature also now produces sharper images faster: They'll start to appear as you're typing and change "with every few letters typed," according to a press release issued Thursday.

Meta AI is available across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and on browsers. The company says multimodal Meta AI is also coming to its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses soon. It's rolling out in English in over a dozen countries outside the US.

As for what comes next, Meta says it's working on models over 400B parameters that are still in training.

"I don't think that today many people really think about Meta AI when they think about the main AI assistants that people use," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told The Verge in an article published Thursday. "But I think that this is the moment where we're really going to start introducing it to a lot of people, and I expect it to be quite a major product."

Meta AI, of course, faces stiff competition from better-known AI assistants, including the likes of OpenAI's ChatGPT, Microsoft's Copilot, and Anthropic's Claude.

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• Samsung Group is introducing a six-day workweek for executives, according to a recent report.
• The emergency measure comes in response to various economic headwinds and underwhelming results in 2023.
• One bright spot? Samsung recently reclaimed the top spot in global smartphone shipments from Apple.

While some companies are embracing four-day workweeks, Samsung Group is reportedly moving in the opposite direction — at least for executives.

Samsung Group is implementing a six-day workweek for executives across all of its divisions, with some starting as early as this week, according to a new report from The Korea Economic Daily.

The abrupt move by the South Korean business giant comes as the company weathers business headwinds, including rising oil prices, high borrowing costs, and the sharp depreciation of the South Korean won, according to the report.

The report described the company's situation as "emergency mode."

"Considering that performance of our major units, including Samsung Electronics Co., fell short of expectations in 2023, we are introducing the six-day work week for executives to inject a sense of crisis and make all-out efforts to overcome this crisis," a Samsung Group executive told the Daily.

Samsung did not immediately return a request for comment before publication sent outside of local business hours.

The new schedule is effective immediately at most of Samsung's technology divisions, with its financial services arms of the business expected to follow in the near future, according to the report. Some executives at other divisions have already been working six-day weeks voluntarily since the start of the year, the Daily said.

Samsung Electronics executives will have the option of coming in either Saturday or Sunday, according to the report. Employees under the executive level will continue to work for five days a week.

While the company looks to rebound from 2023's results, there has been a recent bright spot. IDC reported that Samsung reclaimed the top spot for global smartphone shipments in the first quarter — a title it briefly lost to Apple in the last quarter of 2023.

Samsung has not yet released its first-quarter earnings results for 2024, which it will on April 30. In its most recent earnings results, the company said it was cautiously optimistic of a rebound in smartphone demand in 2024. The company is expected to benefit from rising semiconductor prices, Reuters recently reported.

South Korea is known for its intense work culture; the average worker spent 1,901 hours at their job in 2022, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, ranking fifth-highest among the economic organization's 38 member states. Last year, the country pushed a plan for a 69-hour workweek, which was only abandoned after opposition from young workers and labor unions.

SK Group, a South Korean conglomerate that owns Samsung competitor SK Hynix, said earlier this year it would reintroduce regular Saturday meetings for its chief executives.

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• I used to shop on Amazon a lot, but being impatient has saved me money.
• If my Amazon order doesn't say it can be shipped in 24 hours, I won't buy it anymore.
• By waiting, I limit my purchases and I usually realize I didn't need the item anyway. 

I've spent a lot of money and time on Amazon Prime.

Thanks to Instagram posts and TikTok videos, I'm constantly feeling influenced to buy — or at least consider buying — products from Amazon.

And I know it's not just me — Amazon is the second biggest retailer in the world, and three out of four Americans use Amazon Prime.

I usually add random things I don't really need, like overpriced throw pillows, butterfly-patterned cowboy boots, or a teeny-tiny Mandalorian Lego set to my cart.

But after contemplating the price and reading reviews, the top thing that keeps me from making a spontaneous purchase is actually how long it'll take to ship.

Only buying things that ship in 24 hours helps cut down my buyer's remorse

Since speed of delivery is one of the biggest factors consumers consider when placing an order, I decided to take it really seriously and make it my main one.

If Prime says an item will take more than 24 hours to ship, I don't buy it. After all, if it's not in my hands in a day, I'll probably forget I even wanted it … which means I definitely didn't need it in the first place.

My rule of thumb is if I can forget about the item in the time it takes to ship, it's not worth it. I like that this strategy lets me shop and get some instant gratification while also setting limits that help me cut down on unnecessary purchases I'll regret later.

This also stops me from filling up my cart every time I make a purchase

When I place an Amazon order, I often feel compelled to fill my cart, going from one unnecessary item to two or three.

Maybe it's a "Might as well!" attitude, or perhaps my moral compass feels a little less bad about the environmental impact of my purchase if more than one item ships in the same package.

But, again, with my new rule, if nothing in my cart will ship within one day, it all gets taken out. This cuts many of my unnecessary purchases because most things I consider buying have standard Prime two-day shipping.

I'm now more comfortable just ordering one thing if it's the only item I wanted that'll ship to me within 24 hours.

So if you also find yourself overspending on Amazon and stuffing your cart, setting some kind of boundary around your purchases — even if it's a small one like mine — could be a good place to start.

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• The creator economy is catching notable VCs' attention — and their wallets.
• Creator-focused startups are raising millions of dollars.
• Here are the pitch decks that 33 startups used in Series A, seed, and pre-seed rounds.

The creator economy has bred a new generation of startups — from influencer-marketing companies to new social-media experiences.

These startups have captured the attention and wallets of influential venture capitalists and angel investors over the last several years, giving rise to several unicorn valuations in the space, such as the link-in-bio service Linktree (valued at $1.3 billion in 2022) and the affiliate-marketing platform LTK (valued at $2 billion in late 2021).

Check out 14 VCs who are investing in innovative startups focused on the creator economy and influencers

Even as the economy has weathered changing tides and investments have cooled across industries, some startups in this sector are still raising money.

Several startups announced seven-figure seed rounds in 2023, including the Web3-inspired social network Seam Social's $2.5 million round in December. Last year also saw several later-stage funding rounds, such as one from Whop, an e-commerce marketplace for digital goods, which announced its $17 million Series A in July. Karat, a financial startup for creators, raised a $70 million Series B in June — though it proves that a big VC round doesn't ensure stability, as the company later conducted layoffs in October.

Here are 16 creator-economy startups that raised the most money in 2023.

So, how do creator-economy startups land those investments? Often, it starts with a pitch deck. 

Lumanu, a creator-focused financial startup, uses a simple pitch deck that's more of a "conversation guider," its cofounder and CEO, Tony Tran, told BI.

"My pitch is always why, what, how, and why now?" Tran said. (Read the full pitch deck here.)

Skye, a career-coaching startup, had different pitch decks depending on the type of investor or fund they pitched to.

"I had two different versions, depending on the fund," Jessica Wolf, Skye's CEO and one of its cofounders, said. "If I knew a fund was more into pre-seed, all about the founder, I had one deck. But if I knew that they were a numbers person, I would use another one."

Every startup has a different approach.

Some, such as Throne, even ditch the pitch deck altogether and opt for an email or Notion document.

Read the email template creator-economy startup Throne used to secure its seed investment.

BI talked with founders who've pitched their startups to investors about their process. They broke down the pitch decks they used to secure millions of dollars in funding.

Read the pitch decks that helped 33 creator-focused startups fundraise millions of dollars:

Note: Pitch decks are sorted by investment stage and size of round.

Series A

• Restream, a livestreaming alternative to platforms like the Amazon-owned Twitch: $50 million Series A (14 pages)
• Pearpop, a creator-marketing platform: $18 million Series A (18 pages)
• Spoon Radio, a social-audio startup: $17 million Series A (15 pages)
• Kyra, a content studio, talent-management firm, and influencer-marketing platform: $15 million Series A (20 pages)
• Allstar, a startup helping gamers become social-media creators: $12 million Series A (6 pages)
• Lumanu, a business-solutions platform for creators: $12 million Series A (8 pages)
• Hype, a platform for link-in-bio and other creator-monetization tools: $10 million Series A (13 pages)
• Catch+Release, a startup that helps creators and everyday social-media users license their content to brands: $8.8 million Series A (12 pages)
• Slip.stream, a music startup focused on gamers: $7.5 million Series A (13 pages)
• Brag House, an esports startup: $5 million Series A (24 pages)

Seed

• Scenario, a generative-AI startup to create gaming art and assets: $6 million seed (8 pages)
• Authoritive, an online course-development startup: $5 million seed (11 pages)
• Dharma, a travel startup for creators and brands: $4.7 million pre-Series A (17 pages)
• Glystn, an AI-powered community-management platform: $4 million seed (15 pages)
• Anima, an augmented-reality startup: $3 million (15 pages)
• Grandstand, a sports startup working with athlete creators: $2.75 million
• Seam Social, a new Web3 social-media platform: $2.5 million (10 pages)
• Spark, a digital-art platform from the YouTuber Moriah Elizabeth: $2.5 million seed (9 pages)
• Insense, a startup helping e-commerce brands get low-cost ads: $2.5 million pre-Series A (9 pages)
• Supercast, a podcast subscriptions startup: $2 million seed (20 pages)
• Chartmetric, a music-data and -measurement company: $2 million seed (46 pages)
• Ultimate Playlist, a music-marketing startup: $2 million round (9 pages)
• Magroove, a music-distribution and -discovery platform: $1.6 million seed (21 pages)
• Stagetime, a professional-networking startup for performing artists: $1.5 million seed (13 pages)
• Jubilee Media, a content studio looking to expand beyond YouTube and TikTok: $1.1 million seed-plus (12 pages)

Pre-Seed

• Storia, a startup for animators and writers: $2.5 million pre-seed (16 pages)
• July, a "talent manager in your pocket" for creators: $2.3 million pre-seed (9 pages)
• Squads, a startup that helps creators mint and sell crypto coins: $1.8 million pre-seed (12 pages)
• Skye, a career-coaching platform: $1.6 million pre-seed (33 pages)
• Punchup Live, a comedy platform: $1 million pre-seed (19 pages)
• Spore, a content and community-building startup: $1 million pre-seed (17 pages)
• Hashtag Pay Me, a startup that helps creators price brand deals: $200,000 pre-seed (9 pages)
• Our Future, a short-form video-news brand that targets Gen Z: acquired (15 pages)

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• TSMC sees growth in the microchip industry slowing to 10%, it said in a post-earnings call.
• The dimmed outlook comes on slowdown expectations for automotive chips.
• But the firm still projects strong AI-led revenue growth in the second-quarter.

Microchips aren't making the inventory comeback industry optimists have hoped for, compelling the world's top chip producer to dim its outlook.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing now expects the market to expand 10%, excluding memory chips. That's down from the "more than 10%" forecast it laid out months prior.

The update was offered during the firm's post-earnings call with analysts, and is premised on TSMC's shifting stance on automotive chips, used in vehicles. Though it previously expected demand in this sector to rise through the year, it now sees a contraction as more likely. Further explanation was not provided.

"Looking at 2024, macro economy and geopolitical uncertainties persist, which could further affect consumer confidence and end-market demand," CEO C.C. Wei said on the analyst call.

That's not to say the firm has turned gloomy about its own prospects, instead forecasting its second-quarter sales to rise by as much as 30%. 

"Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the insatiable AI-related demand for energy efficient computing power," Wei said, also citing high demand for AI-led data centers.

The bell-weather firm is central to AI's development, as it's the principal manufacturing hub for tech leaders like Nvidia and Apple. In fact, AI-related chips will account for a tenth of revenue this year, before taking up a fifth of this figure in the coming four years.

While TSMC beat both revenue and profit expectations in the first quarter, ADRs on its stock fell as much as 6% on Thursday, amid the dampened industry outlook.

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• 23andMe cofounder and CEO Anne Wojcicki wants to take the once-hot DNA company private.
• 23andMe said a Special Committee would evaluate the proposal in light of other options.
• The company's valuation has tumbled since its stock market debut in 2021.

23andMe — the struggling DNA company once valued in the billions — was essentially worthless as of Wednesday.

But in a filing late Wednesday, Anne Wojcicki revealed she wants to buy back the company she cofounded in 2006 and take it private.

On Saturday, Wojcicki notified board members of her plans to acquire all outstanding shares in the company, indicating that "she was working with advisors and plans to begin speaking to potential partners and financing sources," according to an SEC filing.

The filing states Wojcicki wants to retain control of the company and "will not be willing to support any alternative transaction."

23andMe confirmed it was aware of Wojcicki's plans in a press release Thursday. It said its board formed a Special Committee on March 28 and would review Wojcicki's proposal "when and if it is made available and evaluate it in light of other available strategic alternatives, including continuing to operate as a publicly traded company."

23andMe debuted on the stock market in 2021 but has taken an epic fall from its peak valuation of $6 billion, with financial and strategic missteps, as well as high-profile hacks of user data, dragging the company down.

Wojcicki has attempted to reverse course by announcing layoffs, selling subsidiaries, pivoting to subscriptions, and offering various healthcare services. It hasn't worked.

Shares shot up to trade at roughly 50 cents on Thursday after Wojcicki's filing. But the stock had been trading at just 36 cents on Wednesday, a new low.

The Nasdaq had previously threatened to delist the company if it kept trading for lower than $1.

Before Wednesday's filing, the company's enterprise value was negative since its shares were valued at less than the cash the company reported having on hand.

A 23andMe spokesperson told Business Insider that the Special Committee declined to comment. A rep for Wojcicki did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

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• Google fired 28 employees involved in protests against a $1.2 billion cloud contract with Israel.
• The company warned employees that disruptive behavior won't be tolerated.
• An employee was fired in March for interrupting an interview with a Google Israel executive to protest the contract.

Google issued a warning to any employees considering participating in any future sit-in protests within the company's offices: "Think again."

Google fired 28 employees on Wednesday following in-office protests against the company's $1.2 billion contract with Israel.

The company sent an internal memo Wednesday evening, reviewed by Business Insider, explaining its course of action and telling employees to rethink violating its policies when demonstrating.

"If you're one of the few who are tempted to think we're going to overlook conduct that violates our policies, think again," Google said in the memo. "The company takes this extremely seriously."

The protests against Google's Project Nimbus contract, which supplies cloud computing services to Israel's government and military, took place outside Google offices in New York City, Sunnyvale, and Seattle, as well as inside the NYC and Sunnyvale locations, when a number of employees staged a sit-in.

Google placed the employees involved in the in-office protests under investigation and revoked their access to its systems. From that group, five were arrested in Sunnyvale and accused of trespassing, and four were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing in New York City.

Google said in the memo the behavior violated multiple policies, including its code of conduct and policy on harassment, discrimination, retaliation, standards of conduct, and workplace concerns.

"They took over office spaces, defaced our property, and physically impeded the work of other Googlers," Google said in the internal memo. "Their behavior was unacceptable, extremely disruptive, and made co-workers feel threatened."

According to one of the arrested employees in New York City, 23-year-old Hasan Ibraheem, the protest started around noon on Tuesday. The group of employees sat in the office and gave chants and speeches every 15 to 20 minutes until about 6 p.m.

The group was asked to leave multiple times, but Ibraheem said at the time, he viewed the requests as "empty threats." After losing access to the company's systems and refusing to leave, the police arrested the remaining group at 9:30 p.m.

Google said it will continue to investigate and take action as needed.

"Behavior like this has no place in our workplace and we will not tolerate it," Google said in the memo.

Google added that it will continue to use its policies to take action against disruptive behavior, which may include termination. The company also said employees should expect to hear more from leaders about standards of behavior and discourse in the workplace.

Google employees have generated headlines in the past for organizing protests, ranging from walkouts protesting sexual misconduct at the company to petitions urging Google CEO Sundar Pichai to stop providing AI tech to US military drones.

Most recently, Google fired one employee for disrupting a presentation in New York by the company's head of Google Israel.

Read the full memo below:

Googlers,

You may have seen reports of protests at some of our offices yesterday. Unfortunately, a number of employees brought the event into our buildings in New York and Sunnyvale. They took over office spaces, defaced our property, and physically impeded the work of other Googlers. Their behavior was unacceptable, extremely disruptive, and made co-workers feel threatened. We placed employees involved under investigation and cut their access to our systems. Those who refused to leave were arrested by law enforcement and removed from our offices. 

Following investigation, today we terminated the employment of twenty-eight employees found to be involved. We will continue to investigate and take action as needed.

Behavior like this has no place in our workplace and we will not tolerate it. It clearly violates multiple policies that all employees must adhere to – including our Code of Conduct and Policy on Harassment, Discrimination, Retaliation, Standards of Conduct, and Workplace Concerns.

We are a place of business and every Googler is expected to read our policies and apply them to how they conduct themselves and communicate in our workplace. The overwhelming majority of our employees do the right thing. If you're one of the few who are tempted to think we're going to overlook conduct that violates our policies, think again. The company takes this extremely seriously, and we will continue to apply our longstanding policies to take action against disruptive behavior – up to and including termination. 

You should expect to hear more from leaders about standards of behavior and discourse in the workplace.

Chris

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• Ukraine said its forces took out multiple S-400 launchers during an attack on a Russian base.
• The strikes on the Dzhankoi base in Crimea this week destroyed or damaged four launchers, Kyiv said.
• The S-400 is a prized Russian air-defense system, and relatively few have been lost during the war. 

Ukraine's military intelligence agency says Kyiv took out several of Russia's prized S-400 air-defense launchers during an attack on an airbase in the occupied Crimean peninsula this week.

The strikes, which occurred overnight on Tuesday, targeted the Dzhankoi military base in northern Crimea, and destroyed or critically damaged four S-400 launchers, three radar stations, air-defense equipment, and airspace surveillance equipment, the Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence said on Thursday.

"The number of damaged or destroyed enemy aviation facilities and the number of casualties among the personnel of the Russian army of occupation is being clarified," the HUR, an arm of the country's defense ministry, wrote in a statement shared to the Telegram messaging app.

Footage of the attack shared on Thursday by Ukraine's defense ministry purported to show several munitions being launched into the sky and then a series of massive explosions at the base.

It's unclear what type of ordnance Kyiv's forces used for the strikes, and Business Insider was unable to immediately verify the footage.

Explosions were initially reported around the base early Wednesday morning, and then footage of the Ukrainian attack began to circulate on social media.

Later, the pro-Ukraine Atesh partisan movement reported the "defeat" of an "S-400 complex." A launcher had exploded and there was serious damage to the remaining vehicles of the system, Atesh said, citing agents that the group said it had within the Russian military.

"The occupiers believed in their newest air-defense system so much that they placed warehouses with missiles directly next to the launcher," Atesh claimed in a Telegram statement.

Russia's formidable S-400 Triumf is a mobile, surface-to-air missile system that's capable of engaging targets — such as aircraft, drones, and cruise and ballistic missiles — at long ranges and high altitudes. The S-400 is the successor system to the S-200 and S-300 and is considered to be a Russian equivalent of the US-made MIM-104 Patriot battery.

The advanced S-400, which has been highly praised by Moscow, has played a role in denying Ukrainian aircraft the ability to operate close to the front lines. S-400 losses throughout the war have been relatively rare, although Kyiv has managed to destroy several systems, including a few as a result of attacks last fall.

Russia also had several different types of helicopters — including the Mi-8, Mi-25M, Mi-28, and Ka-52 — deployed to the Dzhankoi base, according to the Institute for the Study of War think tank. The conflict analysts wrote that it is unclear if any of the aircraft suffered damage in the strike.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy celebrated the attack on Wednesday evening and thanked both the Ukrainian forces and Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, the commander of Kyiv's military, for organizing the operation. "The occupier must lose, and each of their losses is Ukraine's strength," he said in an address to the nation.

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• Mark Zuckerberg has overtaken Elon Musk as the world's third-richest person, with a $175 billion fortune.
• Zuckerberg has gained $47 billion in wealth this year while Musk has lost $55 billion, according to data from Bloomberg.
• The shift in wealth has been driven by Meta Platforms stock soaring and Tesla shares plunging.

A near mirror image in stock-price performance has helped catapult Mark Zuckerberg ahead of Elon Musk as the world's third-richest person, according to data from Bloomberg.

Mark Zuckerberg had a net worth of $175 billion as of Wednesday, just slightly overtaking Musk's net worth of $174 billion. That gap is set to widen on Thursday as shares of Tesla decline to a new 52-week low while Meta Platforms stock pushes toward all-time highs.

Year-to-date, Zuckerberg has added $47.3 billion to his net worth while Musk has seen his net worth decline by $55.2 billion. That decline has knocked Musk down from the status of being the world's richest person to the world's fourth richest person. 

Musk is ahead of Bill Gates' $149 billion fortune, while Zuckerberg is behind Jeff Bezos' $203 billion fortune and Bernard Arnault's $221 billion net worth. 

Driving the shift in fortunes for Musk and Zuckerberg is the performance of their respective stocks. Meta Platforms has surged 43% year-to-date, while shares of Tesla are down nearly 40%.

Solid fourth-quarter earnings results, a newly initiated dividend, and growing investor enthusiasm for the impact artificial intelligence is having on Meta Platforms' underlying business are in stark contrast to the slowing sales growth at Tesla, declining profit margins, and "thesis-changing" robotaxi pivot at Tesla.

Zuckerberg's source of wealth is extremely concentrated in Meta Platforms stock. The Facebook co-founder owns about 13% of the social media company. That's in contrast to Musk, who has many business ventures driving his fortune, including Tesla, SpaceX, and X. 

Musk and Zuckerberg have been at odds with each other in the past, culminating in both agreeing to fighting in a cage match last year. The fight never happened. 

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