Parent company of apps like Facebook and Instagram, better known as Meta Platforms, took a $230 billion drop in market value due to a new privacy policy update on Apple devices that present users with the ability to block tracking features which companies such as Meta use to gain revenue.

In a report by AppsFlyer, 62% of users decided to opt-out of app tracking features, especially considering Facebook’s recent negative controversies surrounding tracking. Even though it’s just a simple new Apple iOS update, the ability to turn off app tracking is monumental to applications and advertisers that utilize personal advertisements for profit.

“At Apple, we’ve always believed that you should be in control of your data- what you do with it & who you share it with should be up to you,” Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, said in an announcement post related to the update.

The colossal crash marks the largest drop in history, as the company lost over 25% or $230 billion recently in market value, which is almost the market cap of Netflix and Uber combined. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms, lost nearly $30 million to his net worth because of the enormous stock drop caused by the company revealing underwhelming results in their yearly report with much of their younger audience going towards other social media apps like TikTok.

“Meta Platforms reported its Facebook platform had 1.929 billion daily users in the fourth quarter, representing a decline (from 1.93 billion) for the first time in the company’s history,” Joel Baglole, a financial investor, said regarding the historical stock plunge.

Zuckerberg has become focused on the Metaverse, a concept he believes to be the next leap in technological achievement for humanity. This platform would utilize virtual reality technology to create 3D experiences that allow users to socially interact with each other in. The Reality Labs department, which primarily creates the technology needed for the Metaverse has cost the company quite a bit, but home to see a gain in the long run.

“We expect our investment in Facebook Reality Labs to reduce our overall operating profit in 2021 by approximately $10 billion,” David Wehner, Meta CFO, said in his outlook summary. “We are committed to bringing this long-term vision to life and we expect to increase our investments for the next several years.”

To say it’s been a bad year for Meta Platforms would be a vast understatement. They have not only lost money and users, but public optimism for the future of the company. Whether or not Meta may be able to comeback from arguably their worst year yet will be decided by Zuckerberg’s gamble in the Metaverse that will make or break the company forever.