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Meta approves huge bonuses for execs after laying off 5% of workers

digitex — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:25:05 +0000

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta approved massive bonuses for executives — days after the tech giant laid off about 4,000 workers.

In a corporate filing on Thursday, Meta said it approved “an increase in the target bonus percentage” for its annual bonus plan.

The company’s executives could now earn a bonus representing 200% of their base salary, up from 75%, according to the filing.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta approved larger bonuses for its executive staff days after the company laid off about 4,000 workers. AP

Zuckerberg — the world’s second richest person behind Elon Musk with a net worth of $245 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index — is excluded from the updated bonus plan, the filing noted.

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The changes were approved on Feb. 13 after a committee for Meta’s board of directors found that the total target compensation for executives “was at or below the 15th percentile” compared to figures at rival companies.

“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 said.

Just days prior to the bonus change, Meta started laying off approximately 5% of its workforce, targeting low-performers. Zuckerberg earlier said he “decided to raise the bar on performance management.”

Meta also recently slashed its stock awards for staffers, according to the Financial Times.

The tech giant reduced its annual distribution of stock options by about 10% for thousands of staffers, according to the report.

Meta also recently slashed its stock awards for staffers, according to a report. AFP via Getty Images

The changes could vary based on where workers live and their role at the company, the report said.

Meta shares have soared 48% over the past 12 months as the company has made big bets on artificial intelligence.

The company recently said it plans to spend $65 billion this year on AI and robot advancements.

In January, Meta said its fourth-quarter revenue jumped 21% from the year before to $48.39 billion.

Meta shares have soared 48% over the past 12 months as the company has made big bets on artificial intelligence. AFP via Getty Images

Investor sentiment around Meta, and its tech rivals, has improved as Zuckerberg and other billionaire executives have grown closer to President Trump.

Zuckerberg last month attended the inauguration, alongside Tesla boss Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.

Tech giants have been hoping for more relaxed regulatory oversight under the Trump administration.

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Meta earnings top expectations as company forecasts higher costs, AI investments in year ahead

digitex — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 23:26:20 +0000

Meta (META) reported fourth quarter earnings Wednesday that beat expectations while the company forecasted a slowdown in revenue growth in the current quarter and said expenses in 2025 would grow faster than last year. Shares of the company initially fell 4% in after hours trading following the results, but were up about 1% near 5:00 p.m. ET. The social media giant reported fourth quarter earnings per share of $8.02 on revenue of $48.4 billion, higher than expectations for EPS to reach $6.75 on revenue of $46.9 billion, according to Bloomberg estimates. For the full-year, the company’s net income totaled $62.4 billion, up 59% from the $39.1 billion seen last year. In the first quarter, however, the company sees revenue coming in between $39.5 billion-$41.8 billion, reflecting 8%-15% growth from the prior year period. In the fourth quarter, revenue 21% over last year. For the full-year 2024, revenue totaled $164.5 billion, up 22% over last year. Meta also declined to offer a full-year revenue forecast, saying “we expect the investments we are making in our core business this year will give us an opportunity to continue delivering strong revenue growth throughout 2025.” Wednesday’s report comes less than a week after CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta plans to spend between $60 billion and $65 billion on AI infrastructure projects this year, including the construction of a data center that the executive says is so large its footprint would cover a large chunk of Manhattan. The company had previously projected $38 billion to $40 billion in capital expenditures in 2024, up from prior estimates of $37 billion to $40 billion. In its release on Wednesday, CFO Susan Li said expenses for 2025 should fall in a range of $114 billion-$119 billion, up from $95.1 billion in 2024. “We expect the single largest driver of expense growth in 2025 to be infrastructure costs, driven by higher operating expenses and depreciation,” Li said. “We expect employee compensation to be the second-largest factor as we add technical talent in the priority areas of infrastructure, monetization, Reality Labs, generative artificial intelligence (AI), as well as regulation and compliance.” “We continue to make good progress on AI, glasses, and the future of social media,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a press release. “I’m excited to see these efforts scale further in 2025.” Ahead of Meta’s report, which was released about 30 minutes later than is typical for the company, The Wall Street Journal reported the company had also reached a $25 million settlement with President Trump over a lawsuit brought against the company regarding its decision to suspend the president from its platforms following the Jan. 6 insurrection in 2021. Story Continues

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Meta to announce Q4 earnings amid AI spending spree

digitex — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 19:30:58 +0000

Meta (META) will report its fourth quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday, and analysts and investors will be looking for signs that the company’s massive AI spending is continuing to pay off. Last week, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta plans to spend between $60 billion and $65 billion on AI infrastructure projects throughout 2025, including the construction of a data center that the executive says is so large its footprint would cover a large chunk of Manhattan. That represents an enormous year-over-year increase in capital spending for Meta. The company previously projected $38 billion to $40 billion in capital expenditures in 2024, up from prior estimates of $37 billion to $40 billion. Shares of Meta are up 65% over the last 12 months. In Q4, Meta is expected to report earnings per share of $6.75 on revenue of $46.9 billion, according to Bloomberg data. That’s up from the $5.33 on $40.1 billion the company reported in the same period last year. Analysts are also expecting a sizable year-over-year increase in Meta’s advertising revenue from $38.7 billion in Q4 last year to $45.6 billion. At least part of that increase comes from advertisers and users taking advantage of and accessing Meta’s AI services. Advertisers can use AI offered via Meta to quickly build out ads, while users interface with the company’s AI via their Reels feeds. Meta also announced on Friday that it will begin testing ads on its X rival Threads. While not as large as Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp, Threads could still provide a boost in overall revenue if Meta’s advertising plans for the platform pan out. In an investor note, Jefferies analyst Brent Thill said he anticipates Meta will report solid numbers in the quarter thanks to its heavy AI investments. Mark Zuckerberg, director ejecutivo de Meta, durante una conferencia en el Centro de Convenciones de Colorado, en el centro de Denver, el lunes 29 de julio de 2024. (AP Foto/David Zalubowski) · ASSOCIATED PRESS “Overall, we continue to be encouraged by Meta’s ability to sustain [double-digit] rev growth, given the combination of higher engagement from AI investments, increased advertiser efficiency and ramping of incremental monetization formats (e.g. WhatsApp & Llama),” Thill wrote. Meta is pouring money into its AI efforts to ensure it beats out rivals like Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI and Google (GOOG, GOOGL) and Amazon-backed (AMZN) Anthropic. Zuckerberg’s announcement came after OpenAI, Oracle (ORCL), and SoftBank announced a joint venture called the Stargate Project, which the trio says will spend as much as $500 billion constructing AI data centers across the US. Meta also continues to wait on the outcome of President Trump’s efforts to keep TikTok up and running. The platform went offline briefly on Jan. 19 before Trump provided assurances that he would issue an executive order curtailing enforcement of a law that would effectively ban the app in the US. Story Continues

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