Meta Targets US$9 Trillion Valuation, Executives to Receive Bonuses Worth This Much
Meta Platforms, the technology giant behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is preparing a new incentive scheme for its top executives with a highly ambitious target. Through the latest stock option programme, Meta is pushing its executive team to increase the company’s valuation to breach US$9 trillion by 2031.
Several names included in this programme are CTO Andrew Bosworth, Chief Product Officer Chris Cox, COO Javier Olivan, CFO Susan Li, Chief Legal Officer C.J. Mahoney, and Vice Chairman Dina Powell McCormick.
Meanwhile, Meta’s Executive Chairman, Mark Zuckerberg, is not included in the programme, as confirmed by the company.
Meta is seeking to motivate its top leadership to develop the company at a very aggressive pace through the new stock option programme. This effort is believed to potentially deliver rewards of hundreds of millions of dollars, or trillions of rupiah, to those who achieve the target.
That target implies a surge of around 500% from the current position, which stands at approximately US$1.5 trillion.
A Meta spokesperson said this represents a major bet. The compensation package will not materialise unless Meta achieves significant future success, which will benefit all shareholders.
“Like all stock options, value will only exist if the share price significantly exceeds the exercise price, and in this case, that must happen within a very aggressive five-year timeframe,” the spokesperson stated, quoting The Wall Street Journal on Thursday (26/3/2026).
In addition to stock options, Meta is also increasing allocations of restricted stock units (RSUs) for some executives. This step is being taken amid fierce competition in the technology industry, particularly in the race for artificial intelligence (AI) talent.
The AI race itself has driven a surge in Meta’s stock-based compensation costs. Last year, the company aggressively recruited AI researchers with compensation packages that in some cases could exceed US$1 billion per individual.
From a financial perspective, this cost pressure is evident. Throughout 2025, cash expenses related to stock compensation reached around US$42 billion, or equivalent to 96% of the company’s free cash flow.
The company reported US$18.4 billion in cash tax withholdings related to vested shares and spent around US$23.6 billion on share buybacks to offset dilution.
Of the 40 million shares repurchased by Meta last year, 90% were required to counter dilution from employee stock awards.
This aggressive incentive strategy reflects a trend also pursued by other technology companies, such as Tesla’s board, which successfully convinced shareholders to approve a compensation package for CEO Elon Musk potentially worth US$1 trillion over 10 years.
In that scheme, Musk is required to increase Tesla’s valuation from around US$1.2 trillion to US$8.5 trillion. Meta’s plan requires a nearly equivalent growth rate in half the time.