Oddsmakers predict jiujitsu enthusiast Zuckerberg will prevail if Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk proceed with their weird intention to arrange a cage fight. But what if their respective businesses, Tesla and Meta Platforms, got into a theoretical brawl? Most likely, Musk's business would triumph.
From the weigh-in, Tesla has an advantage. Nearly $100 billion more money is being invested in the electric vehicle manufacturer than in Mark Zuckerberg's social network, whose market value is approximately $800 billion. Tesla is expanding more quickly, despite the fact that Meta has a higher revenue. Refinitiv's survey of analysts found that by 2025, the top lines of the two businesses should almost converge. Moreover, Musk gets the takedown in terms of investments. When Facebook first entered the stock market in 2012, a dollar invested then was worth $7.45 today. Tesla is currently worth $144 for every dollar that was invested at the same period.
Meta's are more powerful in terms of finances. At the time of the last tally, the corporation had $37 billion in cash and marketable securities. Tesla's own cash reserve is growing, but Zuckerberg is well ahead, creating $116 billion in cumulative free cash flow during the past five years and returning $96 billion to shareholders through buybacks of shares.
One round each, then. But when it comes to governance, neither company is very strong. Because Zuckerberg owns super-voting shares at Meta, shareholders have limited options if he wastes their money. His attempt to create a virtual reality "metaverse" resulted in an operating loss of around $14 billion in 2022. Despite their complaints, shareholders don't have many other options. Musk also has stockholders in his sights, though for different factors. Although he only owns 13% of Tesla, the company's board is filled with friends, and corporate bylaws make it challenging to change. The difference is that investors seem to be mostly unconcerned about this, and repeated uproar hasn't succeeded in ousting him.
Not heft but strategy makes the difference. Tesla and Meta are both working to change the course of history. However, even larger companies like Apple will be a fierce competitor to Meta's virtual reality ambitions. TikTok, a newcomer, is a danger to Facebook's platform, and regulators are limiting Zuckerberg's innovations out of concern for the company's hegemonic power.
While this is happening, Tesla is altering the physical universe. Its network of vehicle charging stations might become a crucial component of America's infrastructure, and its battery-production facilities might power not only automobiles but also the electrical grid. Governments are interested in what Musk is selling, whereas Zuckerberg is less popular. No matter who rules the cage, that game-changer swings the scales in Tesla's advantage.
