Sheryl Sandberg said she’s leaving Meta board after serving for 12 years but she will serve as an advisor going forward.
Sandberg left her role as operating chief at Meta in mid-2022 after the company was surrounded by multiple controversies.
“With a heart filled with gratitude and a mind filled with memories, I let the Meta board know that I will not stand for reelection this May,” Sandberg wrote in a Facebook post. “Going forward, I will serve as an adviser to the company, and I will always be there to help the Meta teams.”
Hock Tan and John Arnold joined Meta’s Board of Directors.
Hock Tan has been the CEO of Broadcom since March 2006 while John Arnold is the co-founder and co-chair of Arnold Ventures.
“I’m excited to share that Hock Tan and John Arnold are joining Meta’s board of directors. As we focus on building AGI, having directors with deep expertise in silicon and energy infrastructure will help us execute our long term vision,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement.
Nick Clegg, Meta’s head of global affairs will leave the company after serving for seven years.
He will be replaced by Joel Kaplan, a Republican, who has been Meta’s vice president for Global Public Policy for over 10 years.
Assessment
Kaplan’s appointment seems to be the right move given his relationship with the new administration. In December, he appeared at the New York Stock Exchange with vice president JD Vance and Trump.
Meta appoints Dana White, President and CEO of UFC- a martial arts organization, John Elkann, CEO of Exor-a European investment company, and Charlie Songhurst, a startup investor, to the board of directors.
Dana White is a longtime friend of president-elect Donald Trump.
I=4 Meta will cut around 5% of its lowest performers, an internal memo shows
Meta will cut around 5% of its lowest performers and then backfill their roles later this year, according to an internal memo sent to employees.
“I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster,” Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in the memo. “We typically manage out people who aren’t meeting expectations over the course of a year, but now we’re going to do more extensive performance-based cuts during this cycle.”
Zuckerberg said he’s preparing employees for what he expects to be an “intense year”.
I=4
Meta’s VP of Virtual Reality/Mixed Reality will leave the company due to family health issues. He served in the role for more than 4 years and has been with the company for 18 years.
I=4 Zuckerberg dismissed comments that the company’s focus on AI might detract it from the core business
In a leaked memo, CEO Zuckerberg dismissed comments that the company’s focus on AI might detract it from its core social media business.
“If we can’t build Facebook and [the] next platform at the same time, then, like, eventually game over,” he said.
Zuckerberg pointed out that they had dismissed the emergence of TikTok, adding that they don’t have control over what will happen to it.
“When I look back on TikTok, I think part of the reason why we were slow to it is because we didn’t think TikTok was social,” he said.
“We don’t have control of what’s going to happen to Tiktok,” Zuckerberg said. “We have a lot of competitors, but they’re an important one. So, who’s gonna own Tiktok at the end of the year? What’s gonna happen? I mean, that’s a pretty big deal, something that’s a card that we get to turn over.”
I=5 There is a leadership change at Messenger and Facebook
There is a leadership change at Messenger and Facebook businesses as Zuckerberg’s “year of intensity” picks up, The Information reported citing people familiar with the matter.
The shake-up involves moving messenger boss Loredana Crisan to Meta’s GenAI group and tasking Facebook boss Tom Alison to oversee Messenger.
During the earnings call, CEO Zuckerberg promised to focus on Facebook this year and make it more culturally influential.
I=5 Meta to cut stock options for employees by 10% this year, the Financial Times reported
Meta Platforms to cut stock options for thousands of employees by 10% this year, the Financial Times reported citing several people familiar with the matter.
According to the sources the actual compensation may vary depending on where the employees are based and the level of seniority.
The share-based compensation vest every three months over a four year period.
Meta’s share-based compensation expense was $16.69 billion in 2024.
Meta’s board of directors approved a bonus of 200% of base salary for its executives, up from 75% they earned previously.
The target bonus increase doesn’t apply to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
The board said the “target bonus” for the executives “was at or below the 15th percentile of the target total cash compensation of executives holding similar positions at the peer group of companies.”