Mark Zuckerberg received the lowest salary of all of Meta’s staff in 2023, with his measly $1 salary — though the Big Tech chief raked in a staggering $24.4 million in “other compensation.”
According to a proxy filing statement, the lion’s share of this “other compensation” covered Zuckerberg’s security costs.
Though the Securities and Exchange Commission filing didn’t disclose just how much of the sum was spent on protecting the 39-year-old CEO, it was revealed last year that the Facebook owner boosted its budget for keeping its boss safe to $14 million, up from $10 million in previous years.
The 2023 bump, which marked a 40% increase in Zuckerberg’s personal security pre-tax allowance, came during the exec’s so-called “year of efficiency,” when the company laid off 13% of its workforce, or roughly 11,000 employees, as Zuckerberg looked to make Meta “leaner.”
Zuckerberg is allowed to use the money to pay for “additional personnel, equipment, services, residential improvement” and other safety-related needs, Meta said at the time.
Meanwhile, the other funds within Zuckerberg’s $24.4 million compensation went to “costs related to personal usage of private aircraft,” per the filing earlier reported on by Fortune, which also noted that Zuckerberg received $1 in salary “per his request.”
He also “does not participate in our Bonus Plan nor did he receive any equity awards,” the proxy statement said.
Meta also included that the median annual compensation among its 67,000-plus employees, excluding Zuckerberg, was an impressive $379,050.
In comparison, the average tech worker earns anywhere between $35,000 and $120,000 depending on the role, according to Fortune, citing data from Indeed.
When contacted for comment on Zuckerberg’s “other compensation,” a Meta spokesperson told The Post: “As a reminder, Mark and Priscilla have pledged to give away 99% of their Meta shares to charitable purposes over the course of their lifetimes. To date, they have committed more than $6.7 billion through their philanthropy, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, to support their goal to help scientists cure, prevent or manage all disease as well as other projects across education and supporting their local communities.”
Despite making just $11 in salary since 2013, Zuckerberg has seen his wealth balloon by more than $47 billion so far this year.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index, Zuckerberg is the third richest person in the world with a net worth of $176 billion — only trailing behind French luxury fashion tycoon Bernard Arnault and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, who boast $220 billion and $202 billion, respectively.
The Menlo Park, Calif.-based business raked in $134.9 billion in revenue in 2023 due to its popularity among 4 billion-plus monthly users — some 3 billion of which come from Facebook alone.
The majority of Zuckerberg’s lucrative year thus far comes from his roughly 13% stake in Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, according to Bloomberg.
Year to date, Meta’s share price has also rocketed more than 43%, closing Wednesday at $493.50.
Zuckerberg isn’t the only CEO with the $1 salary:
Tesla’s Elon Musk, Yelp chief Jeremy Stoppelman and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have also made just $1 per year at their respective companies.
Former Apple executive Steve Jobs also requested a mere $1 salary during his tenure at the iPhone maker and before his death in 2011.
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