Why Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg Only Takes a $1 Paycheck
Written by
Chris Adam
Edited by
Cory Dudak
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Imagine being one of the richest men in the world who started one of the most well-known tech companies in the world — and only having a $1 base salary. That’s true life when it comes to Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg.
Keep reading to find out what the billionaire’s motivation is.
A Leader With a Small Paycheck
The tech innovator is Meta’s lowest-paid employee, when you look at his salary on paper. In fact, according to Fortune, the median worker there takes home $379,000.
Zuckerberg is far from the only tech entrepreneur who has raised eyebrows with a $1 base salary. You’ll find other tech leaders who have belonged to this club, such as Tesla’s Elon Musk, HP’s Meg Whitman and Mark Pincus from Zynga.
So what is Zuckerberg’s motivation for only taking a $1 base salary? Apparently, Zuckerberg believes he’s made enough money and is more focused on doing the most good with what he already has.
More Than Meets the Eye
Let’s take a closer look at what Zuckerberg costs Meta beyond that $1 salary. According to Fortune, the Facebook founder had more than $24 million in other compensation last year. What does that mean? The compensation payouts include personal security and costs related to his use of private aircraft.
Before you feel sorry for Zuckerberg for only having that $1 base salary, you can take comfort knowing that his net worth is about $176 billion. Bloomberg reports Zuckerberg is the third richest person in the world, behind Bernard Arnault and Jeff Bezos.
Here’s more good news for Zuckerberg: He has benefitted along the way from some favorable tax options. That includes how he handled a big stock option exercise with Facebook several years ago. As CNN reported at the time, “After his big stock option exercise, Zuckerberg can walk in the footsteps of hi-tech icons such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. These entrepreneurs built up vast fortunes using stock options with great savvy and then, after they made it to the levels of the super-rich, simply got rid of their ordinary income salaries.”
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