Mark Zuckerberg spends more on personal security despite Meta’s ‘year of efficiency’
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Meta is raising its spending on the personal security of CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his family to US$14 million, up from US$10 million.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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Los Angeles – Meta Platforms chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg has dubbed 2023 the “year of efficiency”, a signal that the social networking company plans to reduce spending and increase speed, but costs are going up in at least one area: his personal security.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is increasing its pre-tax spending on the personal security of Mr Zuckerberg and his family to US$14 million (S$18.7 million) in 2023, up from US$10 million in the past few years.
“This increased allowance, together with the costs of Zuckerberg’s existing overall security programme, is appropriate and necessary under the circumstances,” Meta said in a filing on Wednesday.
The CEO has faced scrutiny in the past for spending more on security than comparable technology executives. In 2021, for example, the social media giant spent more than US$26.8 million on security-related expenses for Mr Zuckerberg and his family, including the US$10 million pre-tax allowance.
But the move comes at a time when Meta has cut thousands of jobs and slashed spending plans. The Financial Times reported last week that Meta had delayed finalising the budgets of multiple teams
In response to slowing revenue from advertising, costly bets on the metaverse and increased investor scrutiny, Mr 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 organisational structure by removing middle managers and using tools such as artificial intelligence to increase productivity. In it most recent cost-cutting move, the company announced that it was shuttering the ‘Live Shopping’ feature on Instagram.
In the filing on Wednesday, Meta noted that Mr Zuckerberg receives an annual salary of US$1 and does not receive any other compensation.
Mr Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have two daughters and are expecting a third child. BLOOMBERG, REUTERS
