Infographic of Meta layoffs: On the same day they cut 700 jobs, executives are granted $9 trillion in betting incentives

Title: Infographic of Meta Layoffs: On the Same Day as Cutting 700 Jobs, Executives Receive $9 Trillion in Performance Incentives

Author: Rhythm BlockBeats

Source:

Repost: Mars Finance

On March 25, Meta announced the departure of about 700 employees across five departments, including Reality Labs, Facebook social media, recruiting, and sales. On the same day, the SEC disclosed a stock option plan for executives, granting six core leaders options tied to a $9 trillion market cap. This is the first time Meta has issued stock options to executives since its IPO in 2012.

While laying off staff, Meta also rolled out the most aggressive executive incentive plan in Silicon Valley history. These two actions on the same day are not contradictory but represent two sides of the same strategic coin. The AI race doesn’t require more people; it demands more expensive talent and more machines.

Fewer People, More “Valuable” Each

2022 was Meta’s peak employee year, with a total of 86,482 staff. That year, Zuckerberg bet heavily on the metaverse, hiring aggressively, but revenue actually declined from $117.9 billion to $116.6 billion. Per capita revenue hit a low of $135,000.

Everyone knows what happened next. In November 2022, 11,000 employees were laid off, followed by another 21,000 in 2023, cutting a quarter of the company’s workforce. Zuckerberg dubbed 2023 the “Efficiency Year.”

The results of this efficiency are reflected in the numbers. According to Meta’s Q4 2025 financial report, by the end of 2025, the company had 78,865 employees, nearly 8,000 fewer than its peak. Meanwhile, annual revenue grew from $116.6 billion to $201 billion, a 72% increase. Per capita revenue soared from $135,000 to $255,000, an 89% jump.

These figures are straightforward: Meta earned more money with fewer people. The marginal revenue per employee decreased in 2022, but by 2024 and 2025, reducing one employee actually increased revenue per person. This is a typical scale effect for tech companies, but Meta accelerated this process through layoffs.

This is the context behind the March 2026 layoff of 700 employees. According to The Register, this is already Meta’s second round of layoffs this year, after cutting about 1,000 in Reality Labs in January. NBC News, citing sources, reports that larger cuts may follow, potentially involving up to 20% of the total workforce—about 15,000 people—bringing Meta’s headcount back to 2021 levels.

In the January earnings call, Zuckerberg said the plan was to “flatten teams,” enabling top performers to complete projects that previously required large teams. A Meta spokesperson responded with a standard statement, saying “teams are regularly reorganized or adjusted to ensure they are best positioned to achieve goals.”

Continuing to Bet on the AI Arms Race

Where did the money saved from layoffs go? A quick look at capital expenditures tells the story.

According to Q4 2025 financial reports and public guidance from Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta, combined capital spending in 2026 will reach about $650 billion, up approximately 130% year-over-year. Amazon will spend around $200 billion (up 167%), Google between $175-185 billion (up 140%), Microsoft about $145 billion (up 127%), and Meta between $115-135 billion (up 73%).

CNBC reports this is the largest single-year capital expenditure in tech industry history. The AI infrastructure investments by these four companies in one year surpass Sweden’s annual GDP.

Meta ranks fourth in absolute spending, but relative to its size, the investment density is staggering. Using the midpoint of $125 billion, each Meta employee accounts for about $1.59 million in AI infrastructure spending—close to 62% of per capita revenue ($2.55 million). In other words, Meta spends about $62 for every $100 earned on data center infrastructure.

The cost is clear. According to Barclays analysts cited by CNBC, Meta’s free cash flow in 2026 will drop by nearly 90%. Amazon is even more aggressive; Morgan Stanley estimates Amazon will face about $17 billion in negative free cash flow in 2026. All four giants are doing the same thing: trading current cash flow for future AI infrastructure.

$9 Trillion Bet

Looking at the stock option plan, SEC disclosures and analysis from Motley Fool reveal that the plan covers six executives, including CTO Bosworth, CPO Cox, COO Olyphant, CFO Susan Li, General Counsel Maoni, and Vice Chairman McCormick. Zuckerberg is not on the list, as his super-voting shares already give him enough control without additional incentives.

The exercise price is tiered. According to Motley Fool, the lowest strike price is $1,116 per share, requiring the stock to rise 88% from the current approximately $615. The highest tier is $3,727 per share, corresponding to a market cap of about $9 trillion—six times the current $1.5 trillion. The options vest over five years, with a payout before 2031. If Meta truly reaches a $9 trillion valuation, Motley Fool estimates each of the top four executives could potentially earn about $2.7 billion.

The message is clear: Meta isn’t just giving executives bonuses; it’s tying the core team to an extremely aggressive growth target through options. The current market cap is $1.5 trillion, the goal is $9 trillion, and the $7.5 trillion gap is what Meta bets AI can create.

In terms of scale, $9 trillion is roughly the combined market value of Apple and Nvidia today. No company has ever reached this valuation. Meta is giving its top executives five years to reach a number that has never existed in human business history.

A Formula

Putting these three elements together, Meta’s logic is a simple resource allocation formula. Total employee compensation (including stock incentives) will stay roughly the same from 2022 to 2026, around $26-28 billion. But AI capital expenditure will skyrocket from $32 billion to $125 billion, a threefold increase over four years. Meanwhile, a new executive stock option pool has been created, locking in the six core leaders for the next five years.

According to Benzinga, Meta’s stock-based compensation expense in 2025 was about $42 billion, consuming most of its free cash flow. The signing bonuses for AI researchers reportedly reached nine figures, with some researchers poached from OpenAI receiving packages worth around $100 million. These figures, contrasted with the layoffs of 700 employees, clearly illustrate Meta’s valuation of “people” without any need for further comment.

The savings from laying off 700 people amount to roughly one and a half days of Meta’s AI infrastructure spending.