Zuckerberg gets $26m in 'other' Meta compensation
- Reference: 1649773813
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/04/12/mark_zuckerberg_gets_a_26m/
- Source link:
That single Zuck Buck may serve as a talking point, a token of humility, but that is hardly the full compensation story. As is the [1]case with many execs the strategy hinges on generous allowances instead of income, as seen in Meta's [2]2021 proxy statement .
For the bulk of his personal wealth, Zuckerberg can turn to his approximately [3]13 percent stake in Meta, which makes him one of the [4]richest people in the world. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Zuckerberg currently sits in 13th place with a fortune worth [5]$79.5 billion .
[6]
A quick look at the Meta proxy statement shows how much Zuck makes in "all other compensation": $26,823,016.
[7]
[8]
There were no bonus or stock awards given to Zuckerberg in 2019, 2020, or 2021, but that "other" amount increased by nearly $2 million each year. The bulk of this goes to pay for the Zuckerberg family's security at home and while traveling, even for personal reasons.
Zuckerberg is Meta
Zuckerberg and COO Cheryl Sandberg both get an allowance for personal and family security, which Meta said is necessary to address specific threats to their safety. "We require these security measures for the company's benefit because of the importance of Mr. Zuckerberg and Ms. Sandberg to Meta, and we believe that the scope and costs of these security programs are appropriate and necessary," the proxy statement said.
Zuckerberg is in the unique position, Meta said, of being synonymous with the company because of the size of its user base and its continued presence thanks to less-than-positive legal and media attention. "As a result, negative sentiment regarding our company is directly associated with, and often transferred to, Mr Zuckerberg."
[9]Intel CEO made $178m in first 10 months, AMD CEO got a $2m pay rise
[10]How not to attract a WSL (or any) engineer
[11]IBM investors staged 2021 revolt over exec pay
[12]Facebook overpaid FTC fine by up to $4.9bn to protect Zuckerberg, lawsuits allege
[13]Sorry, Mr Zuckerberg isn't in London that day. Or that one. Nope. I'd give up if I were you
Facebook lost nearly $100 a share in [14]early February thanks to reports of dipping user numbers triggered by increased competition, [15]iOS privacy changes and decreasing interest. Since then, the company's valuation has yet to return to where it was at the beginning of 2022.
Of the nearly $27 million that Zuckerberg made from Meta in 2021, the bulk comes from "personal security for Mr Zuckerberg at his residences and during personal travel," which cost Meta $15,195,103 last year. An additional $1,627,957 allowance went toward costs associated with Zuckerberg's private jet, which needs hangar space, pilots and crew, fuel, catering and more.
As for which chores Zuck did to earn the other $10 million, Meta didn't mention it. ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/04/intel_ceo_made_178m/
[2] https://investor.fb.com/annual-meeting/default.aspx
[3] https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/profiles/mark-e-zuckerberg/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/18/billionaires_see_wealth_double_during_covid/
[5] https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YlWiM1@L9ZRfD4p3BrPKGAAAARE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YlWiM1@L9ZRfD4p3BrPKGAAAARE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YlWiM1@L9ZRfD4p3BrPKGAAAARE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/04/intel_ceo_made_178m/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/21/interview_questionnaire/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/09/ibm_executive_pay/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/23/facebook_lawsuits/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2018/11/15/facebook_mark_zuckerberg_international_committee_decline/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/03/facebook_q4_2021/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/08/apple_ios_privacy/
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The tax due on all of this will be part of the 'other' millions.
But I agree, paying his dues one way or the other really is non negotiable.
There is no exception here; in-kind compensation is taxable income whether it's a free meal on the job (the IRS has entire tables for how these are to be valued) for someone making $10 an hour or full-time use of a private jet for some fatcat. Mr Zuckerberg will have owed, and presumably paid, federal and state income taxes on it, the overwhelming majority of it at a total rate of approximately 52% (37% federal, 1.45% Medicare, 13.3% California provincial).
And if the company "grossed up" the amount, supplementing it with the cash required to pay the hefty tax bill on the non-cash comp, *that too* is taxable income, also at the same eye-watering rate. Assuming that was the case, it's likely that Mr Zuckerberg got the various non-cash comp and allowances and after paying his taxes got pretty much nothing else. I'm sure he's not hurting any -- he can borrow against his stock at trivially low rates of interest -- but the idea that he's somehow entitled to massive tax breaks on account of being rich needs to be justified. In fact it's on account of being rich that he or his company has to pay an extremely high tax rate. There are really very few tax breaks available on plain old current income; you can take advantage of tax shelters and lower rates on capital gains and NOL investments and all the other hundreds of little loopholes and exceptions only when you do something with the already-taxed money you have. Cash or in-kind, the comp described by this filing is going to have been fully taxable to either Mr Zuckerberg or his company.
If you want to be angry about something, ask yourself why the owners of the company put up with paying for all this stuff instead of handing him $1m a year and telling him to pay for his own security. Perhaps if he were forced to do so he would consider being less of a dick; the company's own filing says outright that this costs so much money because everyone hates him. Perhaps that should create an incentive for a bit of introspection.
Sorry, but those hundreds of thousands are taxable income and Zuck needs to start paying his share on ALL those billions, not just these few extra million.
So damned tired of "exceptions" being given to the rich.