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By Theron Mohamed You're currently following this author! Click to unsubscribe from email alerts. Mark Zuckerberg is the founder and CEO of Meta.
Bloomberg/Getty Images Meta stockholders are set to receive free shares if Mark Zuckerberg absolutely crushes it as CEO. The social-media giant revealed in a Wednesday filing that if its upcoming Class C shares double from a baseline price of $580.60 to just over $1,161, and their compound annualized return since September 10 has been at least 10%, shareholders will receive a dividend: a Class C share for every Meta share they own. If Meta stock — specifically its 30-day volume-weighted average price — doubles again to around $2,322, and has risen by at least 10% on average per year, shareholders will receive the same dividend again, and so on.
Meta, which owns Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and the AI agent Muse , acknowledged how difficult it will be to unlock those dividends, describing the stock price targets as "extraordinary" in its filing. Its stock has already surged more than sevenfold from its November 2022 low, giving Meta a nearly $1.8 trillion market capitalization that ranks it among the 10 most valuable companies in the world. The additional dividends would be paid on top of the initial dividend declared by Meta's board on Wednesday, which will see Class A and Class B shareholders receive Class C shares on a 1:1 basis, likely in late January.
Meta is rejigging its share structure in response to Zuckerberg's concerns about California's so-called billionaire tax: a one-off, 5% wealth tax on the roughly 250 billionaires living in the state. Zuckerberg, who ranked fifth on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with a $247 billion net worth at Wednesday's close, will be able to sell the Class C shares to access the liquidity needed to pay the tax, avoiding a sale of his existing shares that would erode his voting power . Meta's board took action after Zuckerberg said he was considering moving out of California because of the potential tax, and cautioned that the steps involved in relocating, such as listing his home for sale, could spark questions from employees about the company's management, the filing says.
Read next Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Theron Mohamed You're currently following this author! Click to unsubscribe from email alerts. Theron Mohamed is a London-based correspondent on the International team at Business Insider.
His coverage spans finance, investing, wealth, markets, and the economy. Theron joined BI in 2019 as a reporter at Markets Insider and rose to the rank of correspondent before moving to the Trending team then the broader International team. He previously covered tech, media, and telecom stocks for Investors Chronicle magazine and had a brief stint on the Financial Times' Data team.
He interned at the Wall Street Journal in New York where he primarily wrote for Heard on the Street. Theron has freelanced for The Independent, The Telegraph, WIRED, and several smaller publications. He holds an undergraduate degree in geography from the London School of Economics, and a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.
Theron often covers Warren Buffett, Michael Burry, and other elite investors. He also writes about the world's wealthiest people and shares financial advice from all manner of rich and successful people. Email Theron at tmohamed@businessinsider.com and follow him on X @theron_mohamed .
Tech Mark Zuckerberg Meta More Stocks Wealth Investing Billionaires California stock price AI Social Media
Source: Business Insider
