According to The Telegraph, witnesses said that at the meeting, the 28-year-old chief executive was asked if Facebook employees were allowed to talk about the firm’s troubles on Wall Street.

Zuckerberg reportedly replied saying that people should now feel comfortable talking about the issue, but still try not to focus on it.

However, he was forced to acknowledge Facebook’s “painful” stock market hammering to employees whose options were issued at a higher price than the shares are currently trading at. Many remain unable to trade their share as a series of lock-in periods still remain in force, the paper said.

After Facebook shares sank to a new record low, Zuckerberg’s personal fortune has also been slashed to about 10 billion dollars, down from estimates of almost 20 billion dollars in May, the paper added.