Zuckerberg gets $750 million cash per year from Meta's first-ever dividend

His company announced the first-ever cash dividend in its history during yesterday's earnings call. Meta has never paid a dividend before but it will now pay a 50-cent-per-share quarterly dividend to shareholders.

Zuckerberg owns 13% of Meta

Let's do some mathematics. Zuckerberg owns 350 million shares in Meta, accounting for 13% of the company. A 50 cent dividend per share means that Zuckerberg will receive $175 million in dividend every quarter, amounting to a whopping $750 million per year.

While Zuckerberg famously draws a $1 base salary from Meta, the dividends will be cold, hard cash that lands in his bank account for him to use as he sees fit. Assuming Meta maintains this 50-cent-per-share quarterly dividend going forward, Zuckerberg will receive $750 million in cash every year.

Meta did say that the quarterly cash dividend will be paid out “subject to market conditions,” meaning that the amount could be reduced based on business considerations. If Meta decides to raise the amount, Zuckerberg and other shareholders would stand to receive more money in dividends.

In addition to announcing its first-ever cash dividend, Meta also authorized an expanded $50 billion share buyback program in a bid to further boost shareholder value. A buyback program will support the company's share price which has already risen 14% following the dividend announcement.