Meta is giving its top executives bigger bonuses than ever as it tries to stay competitive with other tech giants.
On Thursday, Meta wrote in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it had “approved an increase” in the target bonus percentage for its executive officers. The target has more than doubled, from 75% of their base salaries as a bonus in 2023 and 2024, to 200% in 2025.
According to the filing, the bonus plan “provides variable cash incentives” that “motivate its executive officers to focus on company priorities” and “reward them for company results and achievements.”
Last week, meanwhile, Meta laid off 5% of its 72,000-person workforce (about 3,600 employees) via email. Zuckerberg said the cuts were aimed at “low performers,” though workers are challenging that notion. According to Business Insider, Meta is currently increasing its hiring efforts for machine-learning engineers.
In approving the bonus increase, Meta said it considered how the payouts compared to others in the space, including Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple. Per the filing, the company found that the bonuses it paid out in 2024 were “at or below the 15th percentile” of bonuses received by executives in similar roles at peer companies. After the target bonus percentage increases to 200% this year, Meta will be “at approximately the 50th percentile,” a more balanced midway point with its peers.
The increase applies to Meta’s Chief Financial Officer Susan Li; Chief Product Officer Christopher K. Cox; Chief Operating Officer Javier Olivan; and Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth. Each made around $1 million in bonuses in 2023, according to an April 2024 SEC filing.
Any change in bonuses does not apply to Meta’s chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, who earns a base salary of $1 and does not participate in bonus or equity compensation. Zuckerberg received $24.4 million in “other compensation” in 2023, for costs like security and personal use of private aircraft.
The new bonus percentage also arrives as Meta cuts its annual distribution of stock options by 10% for thousands of workers, according to a Thursday Financial Times report.
The median pay at Meta was $379,000 in 2023, according to an SEC filing.
Mark Zuckerberg is the No. 2 richest person in the world with $245 billion, per Bloomberg.