Meta to issue non-voting shares to finance AI expansion
Meta announced plans to create a class of non-voting stock that can be sold to fund artificial-intelligence projects without reducing Mark Zuckerberg’s voting control.
Meta said it will introduce a new class of non-voting shares that can be issued for acquisitions, hiring of AI specialists, and purchasing semiconductor equipment. The move is intended to raise capital for the company’s artificial-intelligence initiatives while preserving the existing voting power of founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.
The approach mirrors a 2014 restructuring at Alphabet, which added non-voting shares alongside super-voting shares, allowing the company to issue billions of dollars of new stock for AI spending without altering the founders’ control.
A Meta spokesperson declined to comment on the plan.
Industry analysts note that large technology firms have traditionally offset new share issuances with share-buyback programs, but many have slowed repurchases as AI-related costs rise, leaving them as net issuers of equity and potentially diluting insider holdings.