John Elkann, the chairman of Stellantis and CEO of Exor (the Agnelli family’s holding company that also controls Juventus), has been appointed as a new member of Meta’s board of directors. Meta, founded by Mark Zuckerberg and based in California, controls some of the world’s most popular social networks, including WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook.
After his appointment, Elkann stated, “I am honoured to contribute to the future of one of the most significant companies of the 21st century. I’m happy to bring my global experience and long-term perspective to the board at a time when Meta continues to shape and extend the boundaries of innovation and technology.”
While official figures for Elkann’s compensation will be available with the publication of the 2025 accounts, estimates can be made based on Meta’s 2023 financial documents. The base annual compensation for board members is $50,000, which can increase if Elkann is appointed to one of the board’s internal committees.
Additionally, non-employee board members who participate in more than four board meetings or four meetings of a single committee in a calendar year receive an additional $4,000 for each board or applicable committee meeting after the fourth meeting within that calendar year.
Board members may also receive an annual grant of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) with an initial value of $375,000. New non-employee directors joining the board between annual shareholder meetings may receive a one-time RSU grant upon appointment, with an initial value equivalent to the annual RSU grant for non-employee directors ($375,000), prorated based on the period of service from appointment until the next May 15.
Furthermore, each new non-employee director joining the board is eligible to receive a one-time RSU grant upon appointment with an initial value of $1 million. Meta’s compensation policy for board members “limits the total compensation (including both cash and equity-based compensation) payable to each non-employee director to $1 million per year, except during the non-employee director’s first year of service on our board of directors, when such limit is $2 million to account for initial equity grants.”
