Why Mark Zuckerberg's $1 Salary Means Nothing
The CEO and co-founder of Facebook may have a $1 salary on paper, but he took home $3.3 billion by exercising stock options for 2013.
By Laura Entis •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Last year, Mark Zuckerberg joined the most prestigious club of all. Current and former members include Apple's late Steve Jobs, Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Tesla's Elon Musk and NYC's departed mayor Michael Bloomberg.
That's right – according to regulatory filings released yesterday, Zuckerberg is now a dollar-a-year man, receiving a salary of $1 for 2013. While he did not participate in the bonus plan, he received $653,164 for "other compensation," most of which went to cover bills for travel via private chartered jets.
Of course, other than a sign of prestige (the equivalent, say, of having your name recognized by Microsoft Word) Zuckerberg's new salary means nothing. He may have "requested that his base salary be reduced to $1 per year for 2013", but he also took home nearly $3.3 billion by exercising stock options.
In 2012, Zuckerberg's was paid a salary of $503,205 received $266,101 in bonuses plus an addition $1.22 million in "other compensation" for a total compensation of $1.99 million. Again though, that figure is irrelevant. Zuckerberg's real income from 2012 – the year Facebook went public -- was the $2.3 billion he made from stock options.
Related: Zuckerberg Selling Facebook Shares to Pay Off Hefty Tax Bill
