Meta Board Threatens to Resign Over Mark Zuckerberg Pay Demands and AI Spend, WSJ Reports

Several Meta $META board members have reportedly threatened to resign over CEO Mark Zuckerberg's demands for a massive, stock-heavy pay raise, according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal. Documents viewed by the WSJ indicate that a three-member board negotiation team began preparing a contingency plan in early September that included resigning from the board as a last resort if Zuckerberg refused to back down. The compensation dispute was reportedly triggered by Meta's aggressive AI spending, which pushed the company into a negative free cash flow of $2.12B in the third quarter of 2026—the first time Meta has fallen into the red since 2012. Meta's stock price has shed more than 13% over the past month amid wider market pressure where AI capex fears have weighed heavily on major technology valuations. "More spending, negative free cash flow, not enough revenue being generated from the spend [is] concerning investors that this is just sort of a bit of a money pit." — Robert Pavlik, Senior Portfolio Manager at Dakota Wealth.