Mark Zuckerberg paid just $1 salary – but files reveal $26 million in ‘special compensation’ last year
MARK ZUCKERBERG made an additional eight figures in compensation from Meta in 2021 despite having an official salary of just $1.
According to a Meta proxy statement, the majority of the extra funds were used to pay for Zuckerberg’s security team both at home and while he was traveling for personal reasons.
Four years after founding Facebook in his Harvard dorm room at the age of 23, Zuckerberg became the youngest self-made billionaire in history.
In 2013, he reduced his pay to $1, making his salary earnings over the previous ten years just $10.
Since then, his personal wealth has increased to almost $80 billion as a result of his ownership of Meta, but becoming wealthy wasn’t free.
According to Protocol, Zuckerberg’s security budget cost more than the combined security budgets of the following ten technology executives.
The compensation was justified by the company by attributing blame to society as a whole, claiming that “Mr. Zuckerberg is directly associated with, and frequently transferred to, negative sentiment regarding our company.”
As the company’s founder and largest controlling shareholder, Zuckerberg has the most sway within Meta.
READ ALSO: Meta spent over $27 million on Mark Zuckerberg’s security and travel in 2021.
He has come under fire from all sides for Facebook’s views on speech and accuracy.
Reporters are urging Zuckerberg to create an ethical framework for the virtual world as he and his companies build the metaverse.
Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Meta, has seen a consistent increase in her unclassified compensation over the last three years, while her base salary has remained constant at around $900,000.
Sandberg received over $5 million in additional compensation in 2019 and earned about $27 million overall.
After two years, in 2021, Sandberg will receive over $11 million in additional unspecified compensation, bringing her yearly total to $35 million.
At Meta, the median yearly salary is thought to be around $150,000.
The share price of Meta’s stock dropped significantly below $300 for the first time in two years in 2022, as the company’s stock has been sputtering.
According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, the recent stock market decline has caused Zuckerberg’s personal worth to decrease by $46 billion.
