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

The 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.

Meta Platforms took another important step towards its Facebook rebranding this month.

AFP via Getty Images

Here are some key facts

Meta Financial Group, a South Dakota company, stated Monday that it had sold its Meta trademark assets and other Meta-related property to Beige Key LLC in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Meta Platforms spokespeople confirmed this to them. SME.

Reuters reported first the link between Beige Key, Meta Platforms and Facebook. The company changed its name to Facebook in October.

The filing states that Meta Financial, and MetaBank’s subsidiary MetaBank, will be allowed to remove Meta from their names and branding for a year.

The Crucial Quote

In a statement, a spokesperson for MetaBank said that the bank had received tens of thousands of deposits from customers. SME: “There is a relationship between Beige Key LLC and Meta Platforms and MetaBank was aware of such relationship prior to entering this agreement.”

Important Background

Mark Zuckerberg (founder and CEO Facebook) announced the company’s intention to change its name, Meta, at its 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. It was closed for more than a month, before Instagram restored the account.