Meta acquires a minority stake in EssilorLuxottica

Meta is acquiring a minority stake in EssilorLuxottica, in a deal that strengthens Mark Zuckerberg's giant's commitment to the fast-growing smart glasses industry. Menlo Park, as Bloomberg reported, has acquired a less than 3% stake in the Ray-Ban company: a stake worth approximately $3.5 billion at current market prices. It is evaluating further investments in the company to increase its stake to approximately 5% over time. EssilorLuxottica shares are rising at the opening of the market. Meta's investment strengthens the ties between the two companies, which have partnered in recent years to develop smart glasses. In 2020, the then Facebook and EssilorLuxottica announced a multi-year collaboration on smart glasses, which subsequently resulted in the first pair of connected glasses under the Ray-Ban brand. The investment also aligns with Zuckerberg's commitment to artificial intelligence, which has become Meta's priority and largest spending focus.

Smart glasses are a central element of Zuckerberg's plan, offering the company the opportunity to own its own hardware and control its distribution, as Meta's CEO has previously explained. For Zuckerberg's company, in the perhaps not-too-distant future, people will work and play using their own headsets or glasses. For EssilorLuxottica, the agreement offers the opportunity to strengthen its presence in the high-tech world. "We aim to become a leader in wearable computing, creating glasses that will one day replace most technological devices," EssilorLuxottica CEO Francesco Milleri said last November in an interview with the Financial Times.

In recent weeks, EssilorLuxottica and Meta announced Oakley Meta, a new category of Performance AI Glasses that combines Meta’s advanced artificial intelligence with Oakley’s iconic design and Prizm lenses, taking their partnership a step further.