Meta execs could earn billions with Elon-style pay package

Meta's top-level executives stand to gain a noteworthy uptick in their pay — provided the $1.5 trillion tech firm significantly increases its stock value, as outlined in forms recently submitted to the SEC by Meta.

The documents describe a dual-pronged incentive program for six executives, including CTO Andrew Bosworth, CFO Susan Li, COO Javier Olivan, and CPO Chris Cox.

These executives are set to receive an enhanced number of restricted stock units that vest over time, along with thousands of stock options allowing them to purchase shares at high future targets, with a deadline of March 2031.

The conversion price for these packages starts at $1,116.08, escalating to $3,727.12. Achieving the upper end would elevate Meta's market valuation to beyond $8 trillion, based on the current outstanding shares.

Meta's stock, trading around $600, has dipped almost 3% over the past year.

Bosworth, Cox, Li, and Olivan stand to receive the largest number of options, potentially earning payouts of up to $2.7 billion, contingent on how Meta's stock appreciates and how they opt to exercise their options.

The compensation package indicates that the AI talent wars — which are more intense than ever — might be extending into the executive suite as tech companies vie for AI leadership. The news arrives as Meta considers significant layoffs while heavily investing in AI.

"This is a significant risk. These compensation packages will only succeed if Meta achieves substantial future success, benefitting all our shareholders. Similar to all stock options, value exists only if the share price exceeds the exercise price by a meaningful margin, and in this instance, it must happen within an extremely demanding 5-year period," a Meta spokesperson conveyed to Business Insider.

The arrangement resembles Elon Musk's $1 trillion pay package, which provided the Tesla CEO with that amount in stock over a decade if he completed a sixfold increase in the automaker's market cap. However, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is excluded from this deal.

The other Meta executives in line for the proposed pay increase are Chief Legal Officer C.J. Mahoney and President Dina Powell McCormick.

Chief Accounting Officer Aaron Anderson is projected to receive about $3 million in RSUs without any stock options.