Absolutely no sympathy. If the king of facebook is stressed he is perfectly free to abdicate. Literally every day of work he does is optional. He will never not be able to pay his rent.
I think Zuckerberg is in an impossible decision. I think the fundamental problem is that social support for a classic understanding of the 1st amendment has fallen apart, but the legal requirements of the 1st amendment haven't changed (and personally, I don't think they should). Regardless, Zuckerberg is being forced to essentially create an extra-legal institution so that he isn't personally responsible for content moderation decisions. And he shouldn't be - no single person should have the power to decide what is fair online.
Why is this the only alternative? There are myriad ways to structure an organization, including many still being invented such as corporations chartered around long-term value.
An employee owned company is just one alternative, that while not without its problems, would likely produce better results for the world than the current situation.