Arm Holdings vs Meta: Founders, CEOs and History

Arm Holdings was founded in 1990 by Robin Saxby, Sophie Wilson, Steve Furber and is led by Rene Haas. Meta was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum and is led by Mark Zuckerberg.

Company facts

Arm Holdings

Founded: 1990
Headquarters: Cambridge, United Kingdom
Current CEO: Rene Haas
Employees: 9,584

Founders

Arm Holdings

Robin Saxby
The founding of Arm (Advanced RISC Machines) is a quintessentially British technology story, born out of a desperate need to build a more efficient computer processor.
Sophie Wilson
Sophie Wilson, along with Steve Furber, designed the original ARM processor at Acorn Computers in 1983 to 1985.
Steve Furber
Steve Furber served as the ARM processor's lead hardware designer at Acorn before the formation of Arm Ltd., but like Sophie Wilson did not join the new company directly.

Arm Holdings founders in full

CEOs and their tenures

Arm Holdings

Robin Saxby1991–2001
Founding Chief Executive Officer
Robin Saxby was Arm's founding chief executive, recruited in 1991 to run the new joint venture from a converted barn at Swaffham Bulbeck near Cambridge with 12 engineers seconded from Acorn.
Source
Warren East2001–2013
Chief Executive Officer (Former)
Warren East ran Arm for twelve years from October 2001, the period in which the company became the default architecture for mobile computing.
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Simon Segars2013–2022
Chief Executive Officer (Former)
Simon Segars was chief executive for nine years from July 2013, overseeing SoftBank's 2016 acquisition, the attempted sale to Nvidia and the expansion of Arm's IoT strategy through the Treasure Data and Stream Technologies acquisitions, both of which were late…
Source
Rene Haas2022–present
Chief Executive Officer
Rene Haas became Arm's chief executive in February 2022, succeeding Simon Segars after nine years at Arm in engineering and commercial roles.
Source

Arm Holdings CEO history in full

Timeline: Arm Holdings and Meta side by side

1985Arm Holdings
ARM1 Processor First Silicon
The first ARM processor, ARM1, reached silicon at Acorn Computers, designed by Sophie Wilson, who wrote the instruction set, and Steve Furber, who led the hardware.
1990Arm Holdings
Arm Founded as an Acorn, Apple and VLSI Joint Venture
The company was incorporated in November 1990 as Widelogic Limited and renamed Advanced RISC Machines Limited on December 3, 1990, structured as a joint venture between Acorn Computers, Apple Computer and VLSI Technology.
1993Arm Holdings
Apple Newton Ships with ARM610 and Arm Turns Profitable
Apple launched the Newton MessagePad, powered by an ARM610 processor, the first significant consumer product built on an ARM-based chip.
1998Arm Holdings
Dual Listing on the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq
Arm floated on April 17, 1998, trading in London and New York on the same day after being priced at 575p a share by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Cazenove. The company was renamed ARM Holdings at the listing and joined the FTSE 100.
2001Arm Holdings
Warren East Becomes Chief Executive
Warren East was appointed chief executive in October 2001, succeeding Robin Saxby. Over the following twelve years Arm established the Cortex CPU and Mali GPU families and became the standard architecture for smartphones.
2004Arm Holdings
Artisan Components Acquired for $913 Million
Arm bought Artisan Components, a designer of physical IP such as standard cell libraries, memory compilers and input and output cells, extending Arm from processor designs into the foundry-specific building blocks needed to fabricate a chip.
2004Meta
Facebook launches at Harvard
Facebook launched on February 4, 2004, as a real-name student network. The product mattered because it made identity, campus trust and friend connections the core of the service before the company became a public social platform.
2007Arm Holdings
iPhone Launch Accelerates Smartphone Royalty Growth
Apple launched the original iPhone with a Samsung-manufactured application processor built on an ARM11 core.
2007Meta
Ad platform becomes the business model
Facebook's advertising products turned user attention into a scalable commercial system. The shift mattered because the company could keep the consumer product free while charging marketers for measurable reach, targeting and conversion tools.
2012Meta
Instagram acquisition
Facebook agreed to acquire Instagram for about $1 billion in cash and stock. The deal mattered because Instagram was mobile-native at a moment when Facebook needed to prove it could survive the smartphone shift.
2012Meta
Facebook IPO
Facebook completed its initial public offering in May 2012, raising about $16 billion.
2013Arm Holdings
Simon Segars Succeeds Warren East as CEO
Arm announced in March 2013 that Warren East would retire and that president Simon Segars, who joined Arm in 1991 as one of its early engineers, would become chief executive from July 1, 2013.
2014Meta
WhatsApp acquisition
Facebook announced a deal to acquire WhatsApp, adding a large private messaging network to a company still known mainly for public feeds.
2014Meta
Oculus acquisition
Facebook agreed to acquire Oculus VR for about $2 billion. The deal mattered because it gave the company a hardware and immersive-computing bet years before the Meta rebrand.
2016Arm Holdings
SoftBank Acquires Arm for ~$32.1 billion (24.3 Billion Pounds)
SoftBank Group agreed on July 18, 2016 to acquire Arm Holdings for 24.3 billion pounds, about $31.4 billion in cash, and completed the deal on September 5, 2016.
2020Arm Holdings
Nvidia Agrees to Buy Arm for $40 Billion
Nvidia announced an agreement to acquire Arm from SoftBank for about $40 billion in cash and stock.
2021Meta
Facebook becomes Meta
Facebook changed its corporate name to Meta in 2021 to bring its apps and technologies under a new company brand.
2022Arm Holdings
Nvidia Deal Collapses and Rene Haas Becomes CEO
Nvidia and SoftBank terminated the acquisition in February 2022 after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued to block it, the UK Competition and Markets Authority recommended against it and EU regulators opened a Phase II review.
2023Arm Holdings
Nasdaq IPO Prices at $51 and Raises $4.87 Billion
Arm listed on Nasdaq on September 14, 2023 under the ticker ARM, pricing American depositary shares at $51 and raising about $4.87 billion at a valuation of roughly $54.5 billion. It was the largest U.S.
2023Meta
Threads launch
Meta launched Threads in July 2023 and said the app passed 100 million sign-ups in its first five days. The launch mattered because Instagram distribution gave Meta a fast entry into real-time text conversation.
2024Arm Holdings
Fiscal 2024 Revenue Reaches $3.23 Billion
Arm reported fiscal 2024 revenue of $3,233 million, up 21%, made up of $1,802 million of royalty revenue and $1,431 million of license and other revenue, with net income of $306 million.
2024Meta
$164.501B revenue
Meta reported $164.501 billion in FY2024 revenue and $62.360 billion in net income. The year mattered because AI-powered ad tools, Reels monetization and expense discipline restored confidence after the 2022 slowdown.
2025Arm Holdings
Artisan Foundation IP Business Sold to Cadence
Arm completed the sale of its Artisan foundation IP business, the standard cell libraries, memory compilers and general-purpose input and output blocks it had built up since the 2004 Artisan acquisition, to Cadence Design Systems on August 26, 2025 under an ag…
2025Arm Holdings
Lumex Client Platform Launched for On-Device AI
In September 2025 Arm launched Lumex, its compute subsystem platform for flagship smartphones and next-generation PCs, pairing C1 CPUs and G1 GPUs with Scalable Matrix Extension version 2 for on-device AI.
2025Arm Holdings
Fiscal 2025 Revenue Passes $4 Billion
Arm reported fiscal 2025 revenue of $4,007 million, up 24%, with royalty revenue of $2,168 million and license and other revenue of $1,839 million, and net income of $792 million.
2025Meta
$200.966B Revenue
Meta reported $200.966B in FY2025 revenue, $60.458B in net income, $83.276B in income from operations, and 78,865 employees at year-end.
2026Arm Holdings
Arm Launches the AGI CPU, Its First Production Silicon
At the Arm Everywhere event in San Francisco on March 24, 2026, Arm introduced the Arm AGI CPU, the first chip it designed and sells as finished silicon rather than licensable IP.
2026Arm Holdings
Fiscal 2026 Revenue Reaches $4.92 Billion
Arm reported fiscal 2026 revenue of $4,920 million, up 23% and a third consecutive year of growth above 20% since the IPO, with royalty revenue of $2,613 million, license and other revenue of $2,307 million and net income of $904 million.
2026Meta
Q2 2026 revenue up 28%
Meta reported Q2 2026 revenue of $60.80B, up 28%, and net income of $15.85B, down 14%, after $2.40B of legal charges and $1.18B of severance from a May 2026 headcount reduction. It narrowed 2026 capex guidance to $130-145B.

Acquisitions

Arm Holdings

Treasure Data2018$600M
Stream Technologies2018Undisclosed
Apical2016$350M
Artisan Components2004$913M

All Arm Holdings acquisitions

Questions about Arm Holdings vs Meta

Who is the CEO of Arm Holdings and Meta Platforms, Inc.?

Arm Holdings is led by Rene Haas and Meta Platforms, Inc. is led by Mark Zuckerberg. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.

When was Arm Holdings founded vs Meta Platforms, Inc.?

Arm Holdings was founded in 1990 — 14 years before Meta Platforms, Inc., which was founded in 2004. Arm Holdings's longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Meta Platforms, Inc..

How many employees does Arm Holdings have compared to Meta Platforms, Inc.?

Arm Holdings employs approximately 9,584 people, while Meta Platforms, Inc. employs approximately 75,472. Meta Platforms, Inc. has the larger workforce at 75,472 employees, compared to Arm Holdings's 9,584. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).

Where are Arm Holdings and Meta Platforms, Inc. headquartered?

Arm Holdings is headquartered in United Kingdom and Meta Platforms, Inc. is headquartered in United States. Their different home markets mean they may face different regulatory frameworks, tax regimes, and currency exposure.

Who founded Arm Holdings and Meta Platforms, Inc.?

Arm Holdings was founded by Robin Saxby, Sophie Wilson, Steve Furber. Meta Platforms, Inc. was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes.

Which company has a longer operating history — Arm Holdings or Meta Platforms, Inc.?

Arm Holdings has been operating for approximately 36 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Meta Platforms, Inc. has been in operation for around 22 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.

Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Arm Holdings vs Meta overview