The document discusses the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) strategy to prevent Meta (formerly Facebook) from acquiring Within, a virtual reality startup. The FTC aims to foster competition in the emerging Metaverse market by blocking corporate mergers and allowing smaller players like Within to develop independently. This approach differs from the FTC's past tactics of breaking up monopolies. If successful, the lawsuit could open up more investment opportunities in the Metaverse for investors.
2. One of the new technologies with the potential
to change how we live and how we
successfully invest is the evolving Metaverse.
Although there are many companies working
in this field the big players like Meta (formerly
Facebook) are likely to dominate as the niche
expands and matures. Meanwhile, concern
about the ability of tech companies like Meta,
Google, Twitter, and the rest to exert an
outsized influence on society has grown.
3. One of the offshoots of this growing concern
has manifested itself in lawsuits against Meta
and others by the FTC (Federal Trade
Commission) as covered by The New York
Times. How antitrust law may affect your
investments in the Metaverse is being
affected by how the FTC is looking to avoid
monopolies instead of breaking them up.
5. Toward the end of the 19th century and into the
early 20th century several American
companies came to dominate their business
sectors. These companies included Standard
Oil owned by John D. Rockefeller, U.S. Steel
Corporation owned by Andrew Carnegie, the
Union Pacific and other railroads owned by
Jay Gould, and extensive railroad and
steamship interests owned by Cornelius
Vanderbilt and his heirs.
6. There was no income tax until 1914 so many of
these “robber barons” accumulated wealth on a
scale not seen until the current era with people
like Jeff Bezos (Amazon.com), Bill Gates
(Microsoft), Elon Musk (Tesla, The Boring
Company, SpaceX, and Twitter), the Walton
Family (Walmart), Warren Buffett (Berkshire
Hathaway), or Mark Zuckerberg (Meta). Trust
busting was the term that was applied to
breaking up large companies whose business
practices stifled competition and allowed the
companies to maintain monopolies.
7. The most famous case back at the beginning of
the 20th century was the breaking up of
Standard Oil and in the 1980s it was the
breaking up of AT&T to create the “Baby
Bells”. The Federal Trade Commission was
founded in 1914 and is tasked with the job of
breaking up monopolies that stifle
competition through illegal practices.
10. There is a court case going on in San Jose, CA,
in which the FTC is trying to block Meta from
taking over a virtual reality startup. Their
strategy is to nurture competition by blocking
corporate mergers. This is a different
approach from the days of trust busting even
up to the AT&T case in which the FTC went
after huge companies that held monopolies in
their business sector with the intent of
breaking them up.
11. In this case Meta is a dominant player in the
developing Metaverse but the VR startup,
Within, is a small player that will become part
of Meta if the FTC fails in its lawsuit. The
argument is that by leaving the VR company,
Within, to stand and develop on its own, that
will foster more competition as the Metaverse
develops.
13. When a smaller player in any business sector
trades a stock that gives investors the
opportunity to profit as the company
prospers, it also gives investors the chance to
invest in the stock when it typically trades up
prior to a takeover. When a company like
Meta buys out such a company before it goes
public, they not only benefit from that
company’s technology but they also deny that
technology to others.
14. And they deny investors the opportunity to
profit from what should be a growth stock.
The suit against Meta’s buyout bid is one of
eight such lawsuits being pursued by the FTC
under the Biden administration.
15. If the FTC succeeds, we expect to see a wider
range of investment opportunities in the
developing Metaverse arena. As always in
developing technologies one is looking for
the best ideas but also the best application of
those ideas combined with competent
business practices.
16. Without competent and transparent
management you end up with things like the
FTX mess. On behalf of investors we are
hoping that the FTC succeeds in keeping
more and more investment opportunities
available in the Metaverse investment realm.
17. For more insights and useful information about
investments and investing, visit
www.ProfitableInvestingTips.com.