Meta has tried to moderate the company’s spending, including through layoffs, but has spent millions of dollars on personal security.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has dubbed 2023 the “year of efficiency,” a sign that the social networking company plans to reduce spending and increase speed, but costs are rising in at least one area: its personal security.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is increasing its pretax spending on Zuckerberg’s personal security to $14 million in 2023, up from $10 million in recent years, according to a regulatory filing released Wednesday.
That payment does not include other security expenses the company will accrue on Zuckerberg’s behalf. The CEO has faced scrutiny in the past for spending more on security than comparable tech executives. In 2021, for example, the social media giant spent more than $26.8 million on security-related expenses for Zuckerberg and his family, including a pre-tax allowance of $10 million.
But the security payout comes at a time when Meta and Zuckerberg have been trying to moderate spending in other areas, including through large-scale job cuts late last year. In response to slowing ad revenue, costly bets in the Metaverse and increased investor scrutiny, Zuckerberg unveiled the “Year of Efficiency” label during Meta’s most recent earnings call earlier this month. As part of that plan, Meta plans to “flatten” its organizational structure by eliminating middle managers and using tools like AI to increase productivity. In its most recent cost-cutting move, the company announced it was shutting down the ‘Live Shopping’ feature on Instagram.
In Wednesday’s filing, Meta noted that Zuckerberg receives an annual salary of $1 and no other compensation.
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