Facebook Owner Pays $60 Million For ‘Meta’ Name Rights

TOPLINE

Meta Platforms made a key stride in its rebrand from Facebook this month, acquiring the exclusive rights to the name “Meta” from a South Dakota bank in a $60 million transaction.

KEY FACTS

South Dakota-based Meta Financial Group said Monday in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it sold all Meta trademark assets to Beige Key LLC, which is connected to Meta Platforms, spokespeople for Meta Platforms and Meta Financial confirmed to Forbes.

Reuters first reported the connection between Beige Key and Meta Platforms, which changed its name from Facebook in October.

Meta Financial and its subsidiary MetaBank will have one year to remove Meta from its name and all branding, according to the filing.

CRUCIAL QUOTE

A MetaBank spokesperson said in a statement to Forbes: “There is a relationship between Beige Key LLC and Meta Platforms and MetaBank was aware of such relationship prior to entering this agreement.”

KEY BACKGROUND

Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg said the company would change its name to Meta during an October 28 conference. The name change reflects the company’s pivot to the “metaverse,” referencing the company’s increased focus on augmented and virtual reality technology. The company has become more aggressive with its push into the “metaverse” recently, making a beta version of its social virtual reality game available to all American and Canadian adults last week.

TANGENT

The user operating the @metaverse Instagram account told the New York Times Monday that the social media service — which is owned by Meta Platforms — shut down her account a few days after the Meta name change. The account was shut down for over a month before Instagram restored it, saying it was a mistake.