Meta is paying its first-ever dividend as it tries to win round Wall Street and convince shareholders that years of unproven bets on the metaverse and costly new investments in artificial intelligence will deliver results.
The parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, which reported fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday, is authorised to return up to $86bn to its shareholders this year alone, with quarterly dividend payouts of 50 cents a share and a $50bn share buyback programme.
This is on top of the $31bn it has remaining under a repurchase plan announced last year. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, stands to receive about $175mn in quarterly dividend payments for his 350mn shares in the group.