As Mark Zuckerberg staffs up Meta’s new superintelligence lab, he’s provided prime tier analysis expertise pay packages of as much as $300 million over 4 years, with greater than $100 million in whole compensation for the primary 12 months, WIRED has discovered.
Meta has made at the very least 10 staggeringly excessive provides to OpenAI staffers, sources say. One excessive rating researcher was pitched on the function of chief scientist however turned it down, in response to a number of sources with direct data of the negotiations. Whereas the pay package deal consists of 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 workers stated that they had been weighing the cash in opposition to the potential affect they might have at Meta compared to OpenAI. A number of believed their affect can 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 individuals have chosen to significantly exaggerate what’s occurring 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 powerful 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 response to person information 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 workers final week. “Look, you guys, the market’s scorching. It isn’t that scorching. Okay? So it is only a lie,” he stated. “Now we have a small variety of management roles that we’re hiring for, and people individuals do command a premium.” He added that the $100 million isn’t a sign-on bonus, however “all these various things” and famous OpenAI is countering the provides.
As a degree of comparability, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, obtained $79.1 million in whole compensation in 2024, most of it in inventory, in response to 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 observe to Meta employees introducing the brand new superintelligence group. 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 company 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 response to a supply with data of the contracts.
