Fueled in part by enthusiasm surrounding Muse, an AI personal assistant that has the capability of reading and responding to your emails, creating to-do lists, and booking appointments, shares of Meta Platforms META surged 37% in September 2026, trading above $720 as of October.
The Facebook parent company has had a turbulent year in 2026, one that began with mass corporate layoffs as the company shed 10% of its workforce (or roughly 8,000 employees) in a pivot towards AI automation.
Then in August, Meta settled its social media lawsuit with 47 states, agreeing to pay up to $17.1 billion in fines and to add child safety protections to its platforms.
Throughout the turmoil, the company’s one constant has been Mark Zuckerberg. He started Facebook from his Harvard dorm room in 2004, later leading it as chairman and CEO into its expansion and rebrand as Meta Platforms in 2021.
All the while, Zuckerberg has retained voting control over the company. This has ensured that, despite business changes, regulatory pressures, and even market volatility, Zuckerberg’s vision for his company remains its future.
Here’s a close look at Zuckerberg’s ownership stake in Meta and how he accumulated his shares.
How much of META does Mark Zuckerberg own?
As of Meta’s 2026 Proxy statement, Zuckerberg owned 342.5 million shares, although 639,347 of those were held by Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, and Zuckerberg has no financial interest in them.
The other 341.824 million shares were Class B shares. But in July and September 2026, SEC filings show that Zuckerberg-controlled entities converted a total of 608,830 Class B shares into Class A shares, leaving Zuckerberg with approximately 341,215,148 Class B shares.
As of Meta’s October 6 closing price of $738.88, those shares were worth approximately $252.1 billion.
But we already know Zuckerberg is a billionaire many times over.
Here’s where things get really interesting. Class B shares carry 10 votes per share compared with just one vote for each publicly traded Class A share.
So even though Zuckerberg owns only around 13.5% of Meta’s outstanding shares, he holds almost all of its Class B shares. That gives him roughly 61% of the company’s voting power, meaning Zuck ultimately gets the final say on his company’s decisions.
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Is Mark Zuckerberg the largest individual shareholder of META?
Yes. Zuckerberg’s stake isn’t just the largest; he’s on an entirely different planet.
For comparison, Meta’s Chief Product Officer Christopher Cox owned 319,428 Class A shares as reported in the Proxy statement, while Chief Operating Officer Javier Olivan owned 136,685 Class A shares. Neither owned any Class B shares, and each held less than 1% of Meta’s voting power.
Related: How much AMZN stock does Amazon founder Jeff Bezos actually own?
How much stock does Mark Zuckerberg get as part of his compensation package?
Zuckerberg receives an annual salary of just $1. He does not participate in Meta’s bonus or equity incentive programs.
Nevertheless, his total reported compensation for 2025 was $25.1 million, and almost 90% of that was related to personal security. This included a $14 million annual security allowance and nearly $8.5 million in additional security costs associated with his residences and personal travel.
Meta also reported nearly $2.5 million in costs related to Zuckerberg’s personal use of private aircraft.
More on Meta
History of Meta: Company timeline, facts & milestones
Where is Meta Platforms’ headquarters? A look inside its Menlo Park home
How many employees does Meta have in 2026? Its workforce, locations, & layoffs explained
META’s largest institutional shareholders
Meta’s 2026 Proxy identifies only two “Other 5% Shareholders”:
BlackRock, Inc.: 157,849,942 Class A shares, representing 7.2% of Class A shares and 2.8% of total voting power.
FMR LLC (Fidelity): 134,555,687 Class A shares, representing 6.1% of Class A shares and 2.4% of total voting power.
That means that neither of Meta’s biggest institutional shareholders comes close to matching Zuckerberg’s stake — or his voting power.
Related: How much DELL stock does founder & CEO Michael Dell actually own?