Meta shares are in free fall as investors are terrified that Mark Zuckerberg’s increasingly expensive bet on the metaverse will come up empty.

Why it matters: Zuckerberg is one of the few CEOs of public companies who cannot be fired, given his enormous voting power. That means shareholders have to ride the roller coaster with him or hit the eviction button.

Driving the news: Meta shares closed at $97.94 a share on Thursday, their lowest price since January 2016.

• Reality Labs, the company’s metaverse division, has burned a $9.4 billion hole this year, including $3.7 billion in the most recent quarter. During Meta’s third-quarter earnings call this week, executives warned that those losses will only get “significantly” worse in 2023.
• Despite that, Zuckerberg goes full steam ahead…