At Meta’s Q2 2025 earnings call at the end of July, Mark Zuckerberg didn’t hold back. “If you don’t have glasses that have AI,” he warned, “you’re probably going to be at a pretty significant cognitive disadvantage compared to other people.”
Forget smartphones. According to Zuck, the real interface of the future is what’s sitting on your nose. These AI-powered specs, he argues, will “see what we see, hear what we hear, and talk to us” in real time—offering a kind of digital copilot for everyday life. And if that vision sounds a little dystopian, it’s also very, very lucrative.
Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses—built in collaboration with eyewear juggernaut EssilorLuxottica—have become a surprise hit. Since launching the second generation in October 2023, they’ve sold more than 2 million units. Sales tripled in Q2 2025 alone, helping drive Meta’s 22 percent year-over-year revenue growth. Zuckerberg has reportedly challenged teams to push that figure to 5 million by year’s end.
With the ad business plateauing and VR still mostly a money pit, smart glasses are emerging as a rare hardware product people might actually want. That likely explains the company’s decision to go all in by acquiring an approximately 3 percent equity stake in EssilorLuxottica, which, in addition to Ray-Ban, also makes Oakley, Persol, and Prada glasses, plus many more. It's a transaction that has been valued at $3.5 billion—a move that formally makes Meta a strategic minority shareholder and elevates it beyond its prior role as a technology partner.
Although the investment strengthens Meta’s access to EssilorLuxottica’s manufacturing expertise and retail distribution and makes Meta the glasses maker's second largest shareholder, it is not large enough to grant control or a seat on the board. Reports suggest Meta may increase its stake to around 5 percent over time, signaling deeper commitment rather than takeover.
But why? Meta already had a thriving collaboration with the company via Ray-Ban Stories and Ray-Ban Meta. Why go beyond licensing? Why buy in?
A Seat at the Table
Zuckerberg is betting on smart glasses as the next platform. And platforms, as Meta knows better than anyone, aren’t something you lease.
“An equity stake aligns Meta’s incentives with EssilorLuxottica’s long-term success and deepens the integration between the two firms,” says Bryce Quillin, economist and co-founder of luxury strategy agency It’s A Working Title. “Rather than one-off licensing sales, the equity stake signals a shared roadmap.”
Meta wants a seat at the table, not just a place in the showroom. And a 3 percent stake buys visibility into R&D, influence over product timelines and a foot in the door on decisions around how tech and design evolve together. “This will give Meta a role in determining timelines and feature prioritization for smart glasses,” Quillin adds. “An initial, roughly 3 percent stake is meaningful—enough to influence strategic direction and product priorities.” And in a category this nascent, that kind of influence is essential.
“It's about ensuring that EssilorLuxottica also prioritizes smart glasses as a business. After all, it's quite a large company that isn't as focused on tech as Meta,” agrees Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy.