Meta (Facebook) co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg ranks as the world's fifth richest person with a net worth of over $140 billion. He's not sitting on $140 billion in cold, hard cash. His 13% stake in Meta accounts for the vast majority of his net worth, but that stake will soon get him over $750 million in cash per year.
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.
