Meta Executives Could Earn Nearly $1 Billion Each If They Hit Goals—Fortune

Meta is reshaping the “moonshot” compensation model—extending massive, performance-based equity awards beyond the CEO to a broader group of senior executives, all tied to an ambitious goal: growing its market cap to $9 trillion.

In Fortune, Farient CEO Robin Ferracone explains how this approach reflects a shift in how companies think about leadership accountability. “This recognizes it’s a broader group that has to get this done,” she says, pointing to the increasing complexity of delivering large-scale transformation, especially in the race to lead in AI.

Ferracone has long been skeptical of traditional moonshot structures. “They create undue risk-taking,” she says, and they “focus too narrowly on the tip-top of company leadership.”

Meta’s model, however, signals a different approach—one that rewards a wider leadership team for shared outcomes. As she notes, even the most talented leaders can’t deliver alone: “One of the reasons I didn’t really like the Elon Musk award is that he can’t do it by himself. If he’s trying to get those big things done, he’s got to have a team doing it.”

With tech companies closely watching one another, Ferracone expects this structure to spread. “With technology companies, there’s kind of a lemmings mentality,” she says. “They really follow one another, and so I’m expecting to see more of these.”

Read the full story in Fortune.

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About Robin A. Ferracone

Founder and CEO, Farient Advisors/GECN Group

New York: (646) 626-6931
Los Angeles: (626) 799-2700
robin.ferracone@farient.com

Robin Ferracone is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Farient Advisors LLC, an executive compensation, performance, and corporate governance advisory firm. Farient helps clients make performance-enhancing and defensible decisions in the best interests of their shareholders and other stakeholders. Robin provides these advisory services to public and private companies.

From 2005 to 2007, Robin was President of the Human Capital business of Mercer, a business that included talent and compensation consulting, software, and data services globally. Prior to that, Robin was Chairman of the U.S. West Region for Mercer’s parent company, Marsh & McLennan Companies; market leader and Worldwide Partner at Mercer; and President and Chairman of SCA Consulting, a firm she co-founded and sold to Mercer.

With over 30 years of consulting experience, Robin advises clients in the areas of business and talent strategies, executive compensation, organization, value management, and performance measurement. She is the author of the book entitled, “Fair Pay Fair Play: Aligning Executive Performance and Pay.” Her work focuses on providing high-impact decision-making support and organizational solutions based on strategic and market insights. In addition, Robin has authored numerous articles, is a regular contributor to Forbes.com and Directorship Magazine, and often is quoted in national publications. She is a frequent speaker for prominent organizations, such as the Council of Institutional Investors, Society for Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals, NACD, and The Conference Board.

Robin is currently on the Board of Directors of The Woodlands Financial Group (TWFG) where she serves as chair of the Compensation Committee. She also serves on the Board of WildAid, a global non-profit dedicated to protecting endangered species and reducing climate impacts. Robin is a trustee emeritus of Duke University. In addition, Robin is a member of 50/50 Women on Boards, the National Association of Corporate Directors, Women Corporate Directors, YPO Gold, and the Trusteeship. She formerly served on the Board of Trupanion, Inc., where she chaired the Compensation Committee. Of special significance, Robin has been named to the NACD Directorship 100, a list of the most influential people in corporate governance and the boardroom, an unprecedented 14 times. And, in 2014, she was selected as one of EY’s Entrepreneurial Winning Women, a competition that annually recognizes female entrepreneurs.

Robin received an MBA from the Harvard Business School, where she graduated with high distinction, and a BA summa cum laude in management science and economics from Duke University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

 

About R.J. Bannister

Partner, COO, Farient Advisors/GECN Group, New York

New York: (646) 626-6929
Mobile: (917) 747-3985
rj.bannister@farient.com

R.J. has 30-plus years of experience consulting to the S&P 1500 and large private companies representing the board’s compensation committee or management, and sometimes both parties. R.J. has worked with hundreds of companies on their total rewards strategy and executive compensation philosophy to align pay programs with business strategy. His ability to create alignment results from deep insights on industry and compensation trends; sophisticated financial, market, and compensation analytics; and impactful, easy-to-implement solutions. He has worked in nearly every industry sector and extensively with private equity companies. Before joining Farient, R.J. was the founder and CEO of Bannister Group LLC, an executive compensation and total rewards consultancy he founded in 2019 after retiring as a managing director from Willis Towers Watson. R.J. holds an MSc in economics from the London School of Economics and a BS in economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School with a triple concentration in corporate finance, strategic management, and international political science.

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