Meta Brings Back Stock Options for Execs for First Time Since IPO
Meta is dangling stock options in front of top executives for the first time in over a decade to keep talent from walking.
Meta just dusted off a compensation playbook it hasn't touched since going public in 2012. The company is offering stock options to its top executives — a move designed squarely at retention.
There's a catch, though. These aren't freebies. The options are tied to stock-price milestones that Meta needs to hit in the coming years. No target, no payout.
The shift signals how seriously Meta is taking the talent war. Stock options were standard practice before the IPO, but the company moved away from them once it went public. Now they're back, specifically structured as performance-based incentives for senior leadership.
It's a bet that tying executive wealth directly to stock performance will keep key people locked in — and motivated to push the company's valuation higher.