Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Faces Investors Disappointed And Angry About Stock Price In First Shareholders Meeting

CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced a series of angry comments Tuesday at Facebook's (NASDAQ:FB) first shareholders meet, as investors lined up to question the social networking site’s dismal performance in the stock market.

The shareholders who attended their first meeting since the social networking giant’s initial public offering in May 2012, sought clarification on how the company is going to protect their investments.

Zuckerberg defended Facebook’s current strategy and said he believed the company is on the right track toward long-term success.

"Nothing has made me really think that the fundamental strategy is wrong or that what we're building isn't valuable," Zuckerberg said, according to a Reuters report, adding that the company was disappointed with its performance on Wall Street.

"We understand that a lot of people are disappointed in the performance of the stock, and we really are, too," Zuckerberg said in a statement before taking questions from investors, USA Today reported.

Several Facebook shareholders, worried about losing their money, vented their frustration at the slumping stock price at the meeting held at a hotel in Millbrae, Calif., 18 miles northwest of the company's Menlo Park head office.

Facebook's shares touched a low of $17.55 last September after its much-hyped initial public offering at $38 a share. The company's shares began immediately falling after the public listing, and have failed to touch the offer price ever since.

Despite posting strong earnings in the quarter ended March 2013 -- driven mainly by revenues from its mobile platform -- Facebook's shares have continued to perform poorly. On Tuesday, Facebook stock fell 1.23 percent to close at $24.03, down 37 percent from its initial offer price.

Zuckerberg acknowledged the resentment about the falling stock among shareholders, noting that he has no control over the company’s stock price.

"Unfortunately, we don't have control over the share price, particularly in the short term," he said, according to an Agence France-Presse report.

However, he assured the shareholders that the company is working toward strengthening its mobile business to boost revenues.

"As people use our mobile experiences more and more, we'll be able to grow our businesses and build the economic engine around that to continue growing our revenue and profitability going into the future," Zuckerberg told shareholders, USA Today reported.