As Mark Zuckerberg staffs up Meta’s new superintelligence lab, he’s provided high 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 12 months, WIRED has realized.
Meta has made at the very least 10 staggeringly excessive affords to OpenAI staffers, sources say. One excessive rating researcher was pitched on the position of chief scientist however turned it down, in line with a number of sources with direct information of the negotiations. Whereas the pay package deal contains fairness, within the first 12 months the inventory vests instantly, sources say.
“That’s about how a lot it will 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 have been weighing the cash towards the potential affect they might have at Meta compared to OpenAI. A number of believed their affect could be higher at OpenAI.
“These statements are unfaithful – the scale and construction of those compensation packages have been misrepresented in every single place,” says Meta spokesperson Andy Stone. “Some folks have chosen to drastically 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 12 months at Meta—a formidable sum that pales compared to the packages presently on provide. These within the pay band above this engineer (E7’s, in Meta phrases) make on common $1.54 million a 12 months, in line with consumer knowledge submitted on Ranges.FYI.
Andrew Bosworth, chief expertise officer at Meta, stated that not everyone seems to be getting a $100 million provide throughout a Q&A with staff final week. “Look, you guys, the market’s scorching. It isn’t that scorching. Okay? So it is only a lie,” he stated. “We’ve a small variety of management roles that we’re hiring for, and people folks do command a premium.” He added that the $100 million just isn’t a sign-on bonus, however “all these various things” and famous OpenAI is countering the affords.
As a degree 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 12 months.
On Monday, Mark Zuckerberg despatched a notice to Meta workers introducing the brand new superintelligence workforce. 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 title a chief scientist or a chief analysis officer as a part of the announcement. Neither Wang nor Friedman are considered researchers, at the very least within the conventional sense. Not one of the OpenAI staffers who left for Meta obtained the $300 million provide, in line with a supply with information of the contracts.
