Facebook Investors Worried As Mark Zuckerberg Takes Part In Combat Sports

Meta, in its latest financial report, has disclosed a possible risk associated with its Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg. The company, which does not seem too pleased with his lifestyle choices, stated Mr Zuckerberg's participation in extreme sports and mixed martial arts (MMA) are not only personal preferences, but also potentially dangerous for Meta and its investors, as per a report in CNBC. 

The report was submitted last Friday and made note of the risk of severe injury or worse associated with engagement in combat sports, extreme sports, and even aviation, all of which Mr Zuckerberg is well-known to enjoy. "Mr Zuckerberg and certain other members of management participate in various high-risk activities, such as combat sports, extreme sports, and recreational aviation, which carry the risk of serious injury and death," Meta said. 

"If Mr Zuckerberg were to become unavailable for any reason, there could be a material adverse impact on our operations," they added.

Responding to the news of the same, Mr Zuckerberg wrote on Threads, "Good point. Maybe investors should be more worried about me *not* doing MMA." He was replying to a user who said, "@zuck doing MMA poses risk to Meta? Ever since he started training the stock is up like 500%." Later, the Meta CEO posted a GIF stating, "High risk = high reward."

The CEO, who is the largest shareholder of Meta, revealed in November that he tore his anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, while training for a mixed martial arts competition. In a picture shared on Instagram, he can be seen on a hospital bed with his left leg bandaged and in a supportive leg brace. He wrote, ''Tore my ACL sparring and just got out of surgery to replace it. Grateful for the doctors and team taking care of me. I was training for a competitive MMA fight early next year, but now that's delayed a bit. Still looking forward to doing it after I recover. Thanks to everyone for the love and support.''

Notably, Mr Zuckerberg has trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, a self-defence martial art, for more than a year and won an amateur tournament. In July 2023, he was awarded his blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by his coach. 

In October, he posted a selfie on Instagram, showing his face swollen and marked by multiple bruises under the eyes and on the nose. The Meta CEO explained that it happened when sparring, a common training method in combat sports, got out of hand.

There was also talk of a potential cage match between Mr Zuckerberg and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, following a public exchange between the two tech moguls on social media in 2023. Several weeks later, Meta CEO said Mr Musk "isn't serious" about the fight and that it was "time to move on". 

''I think we can all agree Elon isn't serious and it's time to move on. I offered a real date. Dana White offered to make this a legitimate competition for charity. Elon won't confirm a date, then says he needs surgery, and now asks to do a practice round in my backyard instead. If Elon ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me. Otherwise, time to move on. I'm going to focus on competing with people who take the sport seriously,'' he wrote on Threads.