Facebook investors ruck with on the ropes Zuck

Mark Zuckerberg is renowned for his brains rather than his brawn, but the young-billionaire was fending off sucker punches from all angles at Facebook's first annual shareholders meeting yesterday.

Reacting to a near 40% stock plummet since last year, the 29-year-old CEO faced a half-hour grilling from disgruntled investors, angry at the company's decreasing value.

In an attempt to calm the crowd however, Zuckerberg acknowledged the falling stock in his opening address, saying:

"We're disappointed with the performance of the stock over the last year," the Financial Times reported.

"Unfortunately we don’t really have control over what the share price is, especially in the short term.

“We’ve all been disappointed. We expect there's going to be fluctuations."

Following Facebook's initial public offering on May 18 last year, Zuckerberg has seen stock decline 37% since its debut at US$38 - leading shareholders to demand answers.

With one investor calling the stock drop a "disaster", shareholders shared personal stories with the CEO, wondering when the company would turn "valuable."

"Do you think another two years?," one asked Facebook's CFO David Ebersman.

His reply…?

"I wish I had a crystal ball."

Yet despite should a disparaging response, Zuckerberg moved to assure investors plans where in place to ensure Facebook makes profits going forward, insisting the POA remains the same.

"Nothing in that has made me think that the fundamental strategy is wrong," he said.

"I'm very well-versed on our advertising business."

Can Facebook become a "valuable" company? Tell us your thoughts below