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 whole compensation for the primary 12 months, WIRED has realized.
Meta has made at the very least 10 staggeringly excessive presents to OpenAI staffers, sources say. One excessive rating researcher was pitched on the position of chief scientist however turned it down, in accordance with a number of sources with direct information 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 licensed to talk publicly concerning the firm. Different staff 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 could be higher at OpenAI.
“These statements are unfaithful – the scale and construction of those compensation packages have been misrepresented far and wide,” says Meta spokesperson Andy Stone. “Some individuals have chosen to significantly 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 supply. These within the pay band above this engineer (E7’s, in Meta phrases) make on common $1.54 million a 12 months, in accordance with consumer information submitted on Ranges.FYI.
Andrew Bosworth, chief know-how 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 isn’t 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 is just not 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 whole compensation in 2024, most of it in inventory, in accordance with a monetary submitting by the corporate. Dara Khosrowshahi, the CEO of Uber, made roughly $39.4 million (once more, largely in inventory) the identical 12 months.
On Monday, Mark Zuckerberg despatched a notice to Meta workers introducing the brand new superintelligence staff. 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 regarded as researchers, at the very least within the conventional sense. Not one of the OpenAI staffers who left for Meta obtained the $300 million supply, in accordance with a supply with information of the contracts.
