Meta offers stock options to ‘retain, compensate’ top execs for first time since IPO as AI race heats up

Meta Platforms Inc. is offering top executives stock options for the first time since its 2012 IPO — an effort to retain and compensate executives as the company continues to spend aggressively to compete in the heated AI race.

The new options, outlined in company filings on Tuesday, will be released if Meta hits ambitious stock-price milestones over the coming years. They are being offered to executive officers and other senior leaders directly responsible for the company’s most consequential and strategic bets, a Meta spokesperson said.

The first tranche of options unlock if Meta stock hits $1,116.08 per share — an 88% jump over the current level. Meta shares closed Tuesday at $592.92 in New York.

Additional tranches are tied to more aggressive targets — a range that goes all the way up to $3,727.12, more than six times the current price. All options will be released to executives by August 2030 regardless of Meta’s stock performance, and expire in five years if they haven’t been exercised.

Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg isn’t getting options, a spokesperson confirmed.

“This is a big bet,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. “These pay packages will not be realized unless Meta achieves massive future success, benefitting all of our shareholders. As with all stock options, there is only value if the share price meaningfully exceeds the exercise price, and in this case, it must be on an exceedingly aggressive 5-year timeline.”

Meta has been spending aggressively to compete in a rapidly evolving AI race against rivals like OpenAI and Alphabet Inc.’s Google. A lot of that has gone toward AI-related talent. Some tech companies, including Meta, are offering AI researchers and executives pay packages that exceed hundreds of millions of dollars. Stock options were added in part to help Meta retain its top talent, a spokesperson said.