Meta Boosts Executive Bonuses Amid Layoffs and AI Investment Push

Meta executives could get big bonuses after big layoffs

Under the company's updated bonus plan for its executive officers, the target bonus percentage was increased from 75% to 200% of each named executive's base salary, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The increase, which is effective starting with this year's performance period, excludes chief executive Mark Zuckerberg. The update was made after a committee for Meta's board of directors decided "that the target total cash compensation for the named executive officers," excluding Zuckerberg, "was at or below the 15th percentile" of executives in similar roles at a "peer group of companies" that Meta "benchmarks against" when determining executive compensation, the filing said. The Compensation, Nominating & Governance Committee approved the increase on Feb. 13. Now, "the target total cash compensation for the named executive officers (other than the CEO) falls at approximately the 50th percentile of the Peer Group Target Cash Compensation," the filing said. Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Meanwhile, the tech giant has started laying off workers after sending a message to company managers in January that it was planning to cut 5% of the workforce, and would be targeting low-performing employees. "Meta is working on building some of the most important technologies in the world -- AI, glasses as the next computing platform, and the future of social media," Zuckerberg said in the memo. "This is going to be an intense year, and I want to make sure we have the best people on our teams." Earlier this year, Zuckerberg said the tech giant is planning to invest between $60 billion and $65 billion in capital expenditures on artificial intelligence in 2025. He added that he expects Meta AI to "be the leading assistant serving more than 1 billion people," and that Meta's Llama 4 model is expected to "become the leading state of the art model" this year. The company's stock climbed after it beat fourth-quarter earnings expectations and said it was planning to invest "hundreds of billions of dollars" in AI infrastructure in the longterm. Meta's shares are up by almost 16% so far this year.

Meta Introduces 200% Exec Bonus Scheme Amid Layoffs

Meta may have recently slashed up to five percent of its workforce, but that hasn't stopped the company from introducing a lucrative new executive bonus scheme. According to a recent SEC filing, executive officers at Meta can now get up to 200% of their base salary in the form of an annual performance-based payout, up from 75%. Meta says the move was based on its analysis of executive compensation at comparable companies, as well as input from its "independent compensation consultant." The filing said the "variable cash incentives" are meant to "motivate its executive officers to focus on company priorities" and "reward them for company results and achievements." The decision to boost executive compensation won't impact CEO Mark Zuckerberg's personal pay packet according to the filing. Meta's US-based employees started to get the news that they were being laid off earlier this month, with their severance packages including 16 weeks of pay, with an extra two weeks for each year of service. Zuckerberg claimed in an internal memo leaked to Bloomberg that the cuts, impacting as many as 3,600 people, were meant to eliminate those who were not "meeting expectations over the course of a year." The CEO added that 2025 was set to be an "intense year," pointing to the company's work in AI and smart glasses, saying he wants to "make sure we have the best people on our teams." Layoffs are just one of the issues impacting rank-and-file Meta employees. Meta also recently opted to reduce its annual distribution of stock options by about 10 percent for most of its staff, The Financial Times reports, reducing the total compensation of tens of thousands of employees. The news of larger executive payouts comes as Meta is recording some of its highest-ever profits. The company reported a net income of $62 billion in its 2024 financial year, a 59% year-over-year increase, while revenues were also up 22%. But executive compensation isn't the only area where Meta is still willing to spend big. Meta announced in January it plans to invest as much as $65 billion on AI infrastructure in 2025, including making numerous new hires into artificial intelligence roles and building a 1-gigawatt data center that is almost as big as Manhattan.

Meta executives' annual bonuses just got a bit bigger

After another round of mass layoffs and reports of slashed stock options for remaining employees, Meta has like clockwork opted to reward its top executives with a substantial bonus increase. The Facebook giant revealed in a government filing that its Compensation, Nominating and Governance Committee (CNGC) approved a target annual bonus increase for its top executive officers bar CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The bonus was raised from 75 percent of base salary to a whopping 200 percent, effective with the 2025 annual performance period. "Following this increase, the target total cash compensation for the named executive officers (other than the CEO) falls at approximately the 50th percentile of the Peer Group Target Cash Compensation," the filing notes. It added that prior to the adjustment, those executives were only at or below the 15th percentile in total cash compensation compared to their peers. According to Meta's April 2024 proxy statement [PDF], CTO Andrew Bosworth's base salary was $945,000. His actual eligible earnings were slightly lower due to the timing of his raise. However, factoring in a 75 percent target bonus and Meta's 150 percent company performance multiplier for 2023, his total bonus payout amounted to about $1.05 million. Assuming Bosworth's salary remains the same, and Meta's company performance percentage stays at 150 percent in 2025, the new 200 percent target bonus would push his bonus to nearly $3 million. That's before any stock-based compensation and other add-ons. And he's not even the highest-paid member of Meta's named executive team. For balance's sake, and some might find this hard to swallow but, $3 million annual cash compensation for a CTO in Bosworth's position is about right for Silicon Valley; it's nothing outrageous, relatively speaking. The vast majority of his pay package is in shares; in 2023 for instance, he was awarded more than $20 million in stock. The salary, like for many in his role, is the cherry on top of an enormous cake. Some of that bonus cash, though, might be coming from Meta's latest round of layoffs, which saw around 3,700 people - about five percent of its workforce - axed this month. The cut reportedly targeted low performers, and followed a year in which the biz reported a net income of $62.36 billion, a 59 percent year-over-year increase. This comes reports surfaced this week that Meta has cut back on its yearly distribution of stock options by 10 percent to most staff, though we do note that the corp's share price has climbed 10 percent in the past month, and 46 percent for the past year. We've reached out to Meta to confirm reports of the stock option cut. Zuckerberg started 2025 by describing Meta's plans for the year as "intense," with massive AI investments lined up as the Facebook maker shifts focus beyond its struggling metaverse ambitions. Following OpenAI's announcement that it and its partners plan to invest up to $500 billion in an AI infrastructure project dubbed Stargate, Zuckerberg announced his own AI spending plans - Meta would pour $60 billion or more to expand its AI infrastructure in 2025. "This is a massive effort, and over the coming years it will drive our core products and business, unlock historic innovation, and extend American technology leadership," Zuckerberg said of the effort. Hopefully it will prove more successful than that Metaverse shift for the sake of those executives' bonuses. ®

Meta raises executive bonuses by up to 200% after cutting 5% of its workforce

A hot potato: Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has described 2025 as "an intense year" as the company looks to streamline its business. Part of that involves laying off 5% of its workforce, close to 4,000 people. The company is also giving its executives more money, having just approved a plan giving them bigger bonuses - up to 200% of their base salary. According to an SEC filing submitted yesterday, Meta has approved an increase in the target bonus percentage for its annual bonus plan for executives. The new plan increases execs' bonus packages from 75% to 200% of their base pay. The filing states the Compensation, Nominating & Governance Committee of the Company's Board of Directors approved the plan on February 13. It determined that the target total cash compensation for Meta executives was at or below the "15th percentile of the target total cash compensation of executives holding similar positions" at peer companies. The new plan is designed to "motivate its executive officers to focus on company priorities and to reward them for company results and achievements." The bonus scheme does not apply to Zuckerberg. The CEO has chosen to take a symbolic $1-per-year salary since 2013, with the majority of this wealth coming from his ownership of Meta stock. It's certainly not like Zuckerberg needs bonuses. With his net worth tied to Meta's performance, he is now worth $245 billion. That makes him the world's second-wealthiest individual ahead of Jeff Bezos ($243 billion) and behind leader Elon Musk ($397 billion). In January, Zuckerberg said that Meta made the decision to move out its low performers faster. That meant 5% of its workforce, or around 3,625 people, were being let go. While Meta claimed only low-performing workers were being laid off, Business Insider reported that several employees who said they received positive performance ratings in their midyear reviews last year lost their jobs. Eight terminated employees said they received "At or Above Expectations" ratings - the middle tier in Meta's three-level midyear review system - in their 2024 assessments. Meta's response was that just because someone had a history of meeting or exceeding expectations, it does not mean they continue to consistently meet the bar. "Employees at Meta have always been held accountable to a goal-based culture of high performance," the company added. Meta also said those being released would be replaced by new hires in 2025, though Zuckerberg's appearance on the Joe Rogan show to extol the benefits of AI and how it can replace mid-level engineers doesn't exactly instill confidence. No wonder he was recently deemed more disliked than Elon Musk.