How Meta is structuring its AI mega-deals

This week, Meta poached Apple’s top AI executive, Ruoming Pang. He’ll now join CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s superintelligence team, which is working to develop artificial intelligence models smarter than humans that could be integrated into platforms like Instagram and Facebook, as well as products like its Ray-Ban smart glasses.

It marks the latest hire by Zuck, who in recent months has been personally wooing VIP researchers and engineers, offering multiple signing bonuses and pay packages in the nine figures while touting Meta’s steady cash flow and access to vast computing power, according to Bloomberg.

But the payout isn’t guaranteed

Each superintelligence comp package consists of a base salary, signing bonus, and Meta shares (the heftiest part), Bloomberg reports.

• These shares vest over a period of years (typically four), with payouts tied to things like overall company growth targets.
• However, in cases where a recruit would have to walk away from significant startup equity, the signing bonus may be juiced to account for that lost opportunity.

Who’s receiving the big bucks? Meta’s AI Avengers are led by Alexander Wang, an acqui-hire of sorts whose startup, Scale AI, Meta is seeking to plug with $14.3 billion in investment. The team also features at least ten former OpenAI developers, as well as talent poached from Google DeepMind and Anthropic.

Big picture: The hiring push comes as Meta faces AI-related challenges, like the underwhelming performance of its latest model, Llama 4.