As Mark Zuckerberg staffs up Meta’s new superintelligence lab, he’s supplied prime tier analysis expertise pay packages of as much as $300 million over 4 years, with greater than $100 million in complete compensation for the primary yr, WIRED has realized.
Meta has made a minimum of 10 staggeringly excessive presents to OpenAI staffers, sources say. One excessive rating researcher was pitched on the function of chief scientist however turned it down, in line with a number of sources with direct information of the negotiations. Whereas the pay bundle contains fairness, within the first yr the inventory vests instantly, sources say.
“That’s about how a lot it might take for me to go work at Meta,” says one OpenAI staffer who spoke with WIRED on the situation of anonymity as they aren’t approved to talk publicly concerning the firm. Different staff stated that they had been weighing the cash in opposition to the potential affect they may have at Meta compared to OpenAI. A number of believed their affect can be higher at OpenAI.
“These statements are unfaithful – the dimensions and construction of those compensation packages have been misrepresented everywhere,” says Meta spokesperson Andy Stone. “Some individuals have chosen to tremendously exaggerate what’s taking place for their very own functions.”
A senior engineer who spoke to WIRED confirmed their pay was round $850,000 per yr at Meta—a formidable sum that pales compared to the packages presently on supply. These within the pay band above this engineer (E7’s, in Meta phrases) make on common $1.54 million a yr, in line with person knowledge submitted on Ranges.FYI.
Andrew Bosworth, chief expertise officer at Meta, stated that not everyone seems to be getting a $100 million supply throughout a Q&A with staff final week. “Look, you guys, the market’s scorching. It is not that scorching. Okay? So it is only a lie,” he stated. “We’ve got a small variety of management roles that we’re hiring for, and people individuals do command a premium.” He added that the $100 million shouldn’t be a sign-on bonus, however “all these various things” and famous OpenAI is countering the presents.
As some extent of comparability, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, obtained $79.1 million in complete compensation in 2024, most of it in inventory, in line with a monetary submitting by the corporate. Dara Khosrowshahi, the CEO of Uber, made roughly $39.4 million (once more, principally in inventory) the identical yr.
On Monday, Mark Zuckerberg despatched a notice to Meta employees introducing the brand new superintelligence crew. Alexandr Wang, previously the CEO of Scale AI, is now Meta’s chief AI officer, Zuckerberg stated. He’s joined by Nat Friedman who beforehand led GitHub. Collectively, Wang and Friedman will colead a corporation Zuckerberg dubbed the Meta Superintelligence Labs. The corporate didn’t identify a chief scientist or a chief analysis officer as a part of the announcement. Neither Wang nor Friedman are regarded as researchers, a minimum of within the conventional sense. Not one of the OpenAI staffers who left for Meta obtained the $300 million supply, in line with a supply with information of the contracts.
