Meta Plans Non-voting Shares To Support AI Expansion
Meta plans a new class of non-voting stock that it says could help finance AI investments, acquisitions and employee compensation while preserving existing shareholders’ voting power.
Meta plans to create a new class of non-voting shares as it expands its AI business. The company confirmed the plan during its third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday, according to TechCrunch. Meta says the shares could give it another way to raise capital without changing the voting power of its existing Class A and Class B shareholders.
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How the shares would work
Chief financial officer Susan Li said the new shares would be distributed to all existing shareholders through a stock dividend, TechCrunch reported. Meta intends for the shares to be publicly traded and available for capital raising, acquisitions, employee compensation and other corporate purposes. Li said the arrangement would preserve Meta’s current founder-led structure. The Verge reported that trading is expected to begin in 2027.
Meta linked the plan to the cost of competing and building infrastructure during the industry’s shift toward AI. Li said the new class would broaden the company’s funding options and give it more flexibility to invest as AI drives growth across its business, according to both outlets. The shares would not give their holders a vote on company decisions.
Investment plans and recent results
The Verge reported that Meta now expects capital expenditures of $135 billion to $145 billion this year, compared with its previous estimate of $130 billion to $145 billion. It described the company’s AI spending as spanning data centers, talent and model development.
Meta reported $64 billion in third-quarter revenue, up 26% from a year earlier, while costs and expenses rose 68%, according to TechCrunch. The outlet said the results beat Wall Street expectations. Meta also expects losses at Reality Labs, its AR and VR division, to be lower than in 2025, at between $18 billion and $19 billion.
Both reports described recent launches in Meta’s Muse AI lineup, including the Muse Wonder model. They gave different measures of early interest in Muse: TechCrunch quoted CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying more than 10 million people in the US and Canada had set up Muse personal agents in about six weeks, while The Verge reported 10 million US app downloads this week. Those figures describe different activities and geographic areas.
What it means for tech workers
Employee compensation is one of Meta’s stated potential uses for the new shares, making the plan relevant to people working at or considering a job with the company. Neither report says how Meta would use the shares in compensation packages. For now, the concrete proposal is a new funding tool that would let Meta pursue its investment plans while leaving existing shareholders’ voting power intact.
Sources
This story was compiled by AI from the reports below. Read the originals for the full details.