Meta invests 3.5 billion US dollars in eyewear manufacturer
For around 3.5 billion US dollars, Meta is acquiring a 3 percent stake in Essilor Luxottica –, the eyewear manufacturer behind Ray-Ban, Oakley and Co.
(Image: Michael Vi/Shutterstock.com)
Meta Platforms becomes a minority shareholder in EssilorLuxottica. This is the world's largest eyewear manufacturer. To date, the two brands have been cooperating and jointly launching the AI glasses Ray-Ban Meta and, more recently, Oakley Meta.
According to Bloomberg, Meta is getting just under three percent for 3.5 billion US dollars (around 3 billion euros). According to insiders not named by Bloomberg, the stake could soon be increased to 5 percent. According to the news, the value of EssilorLuxottica's American depositary receipts (securities of foreign companies that can be traded in the USA) rose by 6.9 percent to 148 US dollars.
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There had been rumors for some time that Meta was considering such an investment. The Chief Executive Officer of the eyewear manufacturer, Francesco Milleri, had also already spoken publicly about the possibility.
Everyone is betting on AI glasses
The AI glasses are a win-win situation for both companies. They are among the bestsellers. Last year, EssilorLuxottica's CFO said that Ray-Ban Meta Glasses were the best-selling glasses in 60 percent of Ray-Ban stores in Europe. It was “one of the strongest drivers of the quarter”. And this was although Meta AI, i.e., the AI functions, were not even available at the time. Since the glasses were launched in October 2023, they have been sold well over two million times.
Meta is rarely and obviously reluctantly dependent on other companies. As a rule, it is not unusual in Silicon Valley to take over other companies rather than cooperate. The eyewear manufacturer is too big for that. Nevertheless, the investment shows how serious Mark Zuckerberg is about AI and AI glasses. He has been saying for a long time that this is the upcoming device category. Until now, Meta has only been able to provide apps for its services for hardware from other companies. This could change with the glasses. They offer the opportunity to develop their own ecosystem.
EssilorLuxottica is thus moving even deeper into the tech sector. As it is not only Meta that relies on smart glasses but also Google, OpenAI, and Apple, among others, this is likely to be strategically important.
(emw)
