…ts workforce. Obviously, any firm laying off a quarter of its employees is desperate, right? Wrong. Instead of declining, Meta exploded, adding the value of 30 (2008) General Motors in one day. To the best of my knowledge, no business of this size has ever increased revenue by 25% while shedding 25% of its employees. As it paid only 17% in taxes on the quarter, the company’s earnings per share tripled from $1.76 to $5.33. Meta, suddenly having more money than management knew what to do with, announced a 50¢ quarterly dividend and a $50 billion stock buyback.