Zuckerberg’s compensation doubled in 2018 after Facebook boosted his personal security

Having Mark Zuckerberg as its CEO cost Facebook $22.6 million in 2018, with most of that money going towards personal protection for him and his family, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing has revealed.

According to the document, Zuckerberg received total compensation of $22,554,543 last year, compared to $9.1 million in 2017 and $6 million in 2016. Just $1 of that sum was his yearly salary – like many tech CEOs, Zuckerberg receives a nominal payment for his work. The spending hike was mostly due to an increase in the cost of his personal protection.

Facebook paid a $10 million pre-tax allowance to cover security for Zuckerberg and his family members, along with an additional $9,956,847 in 2018. The CEO also received almost $2.6 million in company-covered private jet travel expenses last year, up from $1.5 million in 2017.

Zuckerberg’s compensation in 2018 was slightly smaller than that of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who received $23.7 from the company. Then again, she got her salary and a bonus totaling almost $1.5 million plus an $18-million stock award. In 2017, she received over $25 million in compensation, according to the filing.

Facebook is trying to recover its reputation after a string of scandals over its failure to protect users’ personal data, shady business practices involving third parties, and erratic moderation of content on its platform. The social network said on Friday that it was planning to shake up its board, parting ways with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and nominating Peggy Alford of PayPal during the annual stockholders meeting in May.

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