Meta announced plans for a new class of non-voting shares alongside its Oct. 21 third-quarter earnings report. The company intends to use the stock to support its AI initiatives, potential acquisitions and employee compensation, The Verge reports.
On the earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Susan Li said Meta plans to distribute the new stock to existing shareholders through a stock dividend, according to TechCrunch. Li described it as a future tool for raising capital and other corporate uses while preserving the voting power of existing Class A and B shareholders. That voting-power point does not mean a later sale of additional shares could not dilute shareholders’ economic stakes.
SiliconANGLE reports that the planned dividend would give shareholders one new Class C share for each outstanding Class A or B share after an amended certificate of incorporation takes effect Jan. 19, 2027. Meta intends to list the new stock on the Nasdaq. The Verge reports that trading is expected to begin in 2027.
Earlier that day, Semafor’s Liz Hoffman reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that Meta was planning non-voting shares. Semafor suggested the company might lean heavily on future stock sales to fund its AI buildout. Meta’s subsequent announcement established the plan for the shares, not a commitment to those sales. For a sense of the investment ahead, The Verge reports that Meta expects 2026 capital expenditures of $135 billion to $145 billion, compared with its previous estimate of $130 billion to $145 billion.
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