Zuckerberg Targets Meta's Top Brass In Planned Job Cuts As His Wealth Hits $181B, Stock Price Soars

More job cuts could be on the way at Meta Platforms META as the company continues to exercise on its "year of efficiency" goals outlined previously.

What Happened: Meta Platforms has been looking to trim its employee count for certain business lines and more cuts appear to be here.

The company's "year of efficiency" efforts have become more permanent, according to a report from Business Insider.

The report states that the company has hundreds of vice presidents and is looking to trim the number down. After having around 180 vice presidents in previous years, the number ballooned to 300 last year, according to the report.

According to sources cited in the report, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has decided to streamline the leadership by reducing the number to 250 vice presidents for the future.

"The overall goal is still to reduce the people in the middle and at the top and increase people on the bottom. It's getting middle-heavy and top-heavy again," a source told Business Insider.

Last year, Zuckerberg made comments about Meta not wanting to be "managers managing managers."

The job cuts could be happening soon, as mid-year reviews are taking place.

Sources said Meta uses "stack ranking" comparing vice presidents against their peers.   

"Some people are leaving because they're getting other jobs, some people because of their performance," a second source told Business Insider.

Related Link: Meta Platforms Q1 Earnings Highlights: Facebook Owner Beats Estimates, But Guidance, Higher Costs Ding Stock

Why It's Important: Over the last two years, Meta laid off over 20,000 employees in an effort to reduce its headcount and improve financials.

While the company has been cutting jobs, the performance of the stock has been soaring. Meta shares are up 87% over the last year and up 43% year-to-date in 2024.

Meta vice presidents cut from the company may be left looking for new jobs and faced with new financial struggles.

Zuckerberg has been experiencing soaring wealth in 2024. The Meta co-founder and CEO is currently ranked as the fourth-richest person in the world, worth $181 billion, according to Bloomberg.

The Meta CEO ended 2023 as the sixth-richest person in 2023. While many billionaires have added to their wealth in 2024, Zuckerberg's $52.6 billion gain ranks second worldwide, trailing only Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (+$65.9 billion).

META Price Action: Meta shares are down 1% to $503.36 on Thursday, versus a 52-week trading range of $271.42 to $531.49.

Read Next: Mark Zuckerberg’s Confidential 2010 Email Demanded A Facebook Employee ‘Resign Immediately’ After ‘An Act Of Betrayal’ Against Company; Worker Was Warned To Leave Or ‘We Will Almost Certainly Find Out Who You Are Anyway’

Photo: Shutterstock