Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is technically the company’s lowest-paid employee. According to reports, Zuckerberg was paid $1 in 2023, which is much lower than the average salary of Meta employees, which is about $379,000 (about $3 million).
However, the basic salary is only a number, as Zuckerberg received a significant amount due to “other compensation”. A proxy filing published before the annual meeting of Meta shareholders in May showed Zuckerberg’s “other compensation” was $24.4 million.
Another major component of compensation includes security fees. The report states that Meta’s pre-tax personal safety net allowance will increase 40 percent to about $14 million in 2023, from $10 million in 2018. Despite this increase, Meta’s commitment to “years of efficiency” led to some reductions in Zuckerberg’s security spending. In 2022, it spent $14.8 million on security, and in 2023, that cost dropped to $9.4 million.
In compensation, Meta’s CEO receives a low salary. His net worth is not only related to his basic salary, but also mainly includes his ownership stake in Meta, which includes Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Zuckerberg’s ownership stake has contributed significantly to his current net worth of $158.7 billion. On April 26, the French fashion icon became the fourth richest person in the world after Bernard Arnault, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.
Meanwhile, regarding Meta’s income, the company posted $134.9 billion in revenue last year. This success can be attributed to the popularity of the platform, which has more than 4 billion monthly users, including almost 3 billion on Facebook alone. The company’s stock has made huge gains, rising more than 43% today.
Interestingly, Zuckerberg is not alone in the “one dollar club”. Notable CEOs who have opted for a symbolic $1 salary include Tesla’s Elon Musk, Yelp’s Jeremy Stoppelman, and Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs also earned $1 during his time in the company.
However, despite the low wages, the overall compensation package, especially the security costs, reflect the challenges and unique challenges that high-profile tech executives like Zuckerberg face. The risks and dangers associated with leading a major technology company in today’s environment require significant investment in personal security and other costs to protect these executives.
