Meta has spent millions on a controversial company perk Mark Zuckerberg loves
Top executives at large corporations are increasing their use of a company perk that has sparked controversy in the past.
Meta has paid big money for two of its top executives to fly private. The company has reportedly spent $6.6 million on private jets for its CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg in 2022 alone, which is a 55% increase since 2019, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal.
It is not uncommon for top executives at large companies to fly private as it is a perk that has been on the rise, surpassing pre-covid pandemic levels.
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Corporate spending on personal flights for top executives at S&P 500 companies increased by 92% since 2015, and executives opting to hop on private jets has fluctuated by 35% since that same year, according to data from Equilar.
The data also reveals that large companies such as Las Vegas Sands (LVS) - Get Free Report, Tyson Foods (TSN) - Get Free Report and Ford Motor (F) - Get Free Report have also spent millions of dollars on company aircrafts for top executives, but Meta has spent the most out of all of them in 2022.
The Journal also found in its report that Meta’s spending on Zuckerberg and Sandberg’s private jet travel rose by 55% since 2019.
High-profile individuals have come under fire in the past for their private jet use as users on social media have complained that they are damaging the environment. For example, in 2022, data from marketing agency Yard revealed the top celebrities that are “CO2e offenders” based on their private jet use, and Taylor swift, Floyd Mayweather, and Jay-Z were listed as the top three among other celebrities, sparking backlash on social media.
Private jets can be a major pollutant to the environment. According to a recent study from the Institute for Policy Studies, “private jets emit at least 10 times more pollutants than commercial planes per passenger.”
Also, the study cites that emissions from private jet use have risen by more than 23% as flying private has increased by a fifth since the beginning of the pandemic.
Despite his million-dollar private jet use, Zuckerberg has been an advocate for climate change in the past, encouraging people to make an effort to prevent the planet from being destroyed.
“It’s time for our generation-defining public works,” said Zuckerberg during commencement address at Harvard University in 2017. “How about stopping climate change before we destroy the planet and getting millions of people involved manufacturing and installing solar panels?”
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