Key Points:
- Meta Platforms is increasing compensation for its top executives, including new stock options.
- This is the first time Meta has offered stock options to its executive team.
- The move aims to retain talent and boost motivation in the competitive AI landscape.
- Executives must meet ambitious stock price targets by early 2028 for the options to vest.
Meta Platforms is significantly upping the pay for its top executives. For the first time ever, the company is offering stock options as part of their compensation. This move comes as Meta races against other tech giants in the artificial intelligence (AI) space and tries to keep its best leaders for the long haul. The battle for senior AI talent is intense, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is pushing Meta to compete aggressively in generative AI.
The executives eligible for these new stock options include Chief Financial Officer Susan Li, Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth, Chief Product Officer Chris Cox, Chief Operating Officer Javier Olivan, President Dina Powell McCormick, and Chief Legal Officer Curtis Mahoney. This information was shared in regulatory filings released late on Tuesday.
All these executives, except McCormick and Mahoney (who only joined Meta in January), will also receive an increase in restricted stock awards. These awards are worth a total of $170 million at the last market close and will vest, or become available, quarterly. Chief Accounting Officer Aaron Anderson will only receive restricted stock.
Meta has a history of offering huge pay packages, sometimes worth hundreds of millions of dollars, to attract top AI researchers to its new superintelligence team. Stock awards are a common way companies reward employees, keep their best talent, and ensure their interests are aligned with the company’s long-term success.
To unlock the lowest-priced portion of these new stock options, Meta’s stock price needs to jump by at least 88.2% to $1,116.08. On Tuesday, Meta shares closed at $592.92. For the most aggressive part of the options to vest, the company’s stock price would need to soar more than six times, reaching as high as $3,727.12, according to the filings.
Meta has set a deadline: the company must hit these challenging price targets by February 14, 2028, for the options to fully vest. If the targets aren’t met, the executives’ unvested options would become available in installments through August 15, 2030. Any unexercised options will expire in March 2031. A Meta spokesperson called these pay packages a “big bet,” explaining that they “will not be realized unless Meta achieves massive future success, benefiting all of our shareholders.”
