Mark Zuckerberg’s salary as Meta CEO is really low but ‘CTC’ is very high, here’s why

Mark Zuckerberg

One would have thought that being the CEO of a tech giant like Meta would pay big bucks as salary. But that’s not the case with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. According to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Meta revealed the compensation it pays to top executives, including Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg's official salary remains a symbolic $1, according to Meta's 2023 SEC filing. Yes, you read it right. His salary is $1 and follows a trend Zuckerberg established in 2013.

However, the filing reveals a different story when it comes to total compensation. The $1 salary is just a sliver of Zuckerberg's total package, which came in at $24.4 million in 2023. This represents a decrease from 2022's total of $27.1 million. The bulk of Zuckerberg's compensation falls under the category of "other compensation," which likely includes security costs.

Since 2018, Meta has provided an annual pre-tax allowance of $10 million to Zuckerberg to cover additional costs related to his and his family's personal security. “In February 2023, our compensation, nominating & governance committee approved increasing this annual pre-tax allowance to $14 million, effective immediately,” Meta said in the filing.

The cost is high because as per Meta it takes into consideration “Mr. Zuckerberg’s position and importance to Meta and the fact that Mr. Zuckerberg has requested to receive only $1 in annual salary and receives no bonus payments, equity awards, or other incentive compensation.”

Furthermore, the Meta CEO owns a private jet — wholly owned by himself but Meta does pay an “an amount commensurate with market rates for comparable travel pursuant to a written policy overseen” by its compensation committee. In 2023, Meta paid just under a million dollars — about $968,828 — for Zuckerberg’s private jet.

Zuckerberg’s net worth is estimated to be around $157 billion but that is related to stock options at Meta.