Mark Zuckerberg is the founder and chief executive of Meta Platforms, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. He started it as Facebook in 2004 and also chairs its board. Shares that carry ten votes each give him most of Meta's voting power, so he can pick the whole board as well as run the company.
In late October, Meta's new class of stock was reported as a way for Mark Zuckerberg to sell shares without losing control. Meta's own filings say that's true for one fifth of the new Class C shares he'll receive. The other four fifths can be sold only if he gives up votes alongside them, until they're released over 32 full quarters of him staying in a full-time leadership role.
What Does Mark Zuckerberg Do?
Mark Zuckerberg runs Meta as its chief executive and chairs the board that oversees the company. Meta's leadership page says he's responsible for setting its overall direction and product strategy, and a filing Meta made in October 2026still lists him as its founder and as its chairman and CEO.
What Zuckerberg runs is mostly an advertising business. Meta's annual report for 2025 says it earns substantially all of its revenue by selling ad placements across its family of apps. A second unit, Reality Labs, builds virtual and augmented reality devices and wearables.
In 2026 Zuckerberg's attention has gone to AI. In Meta's third-quarter results release in October, he said the company had hit "major milestones this quarter toward delivering personal superintelligence for everyone."
Meta also lists Zuckerberg's own profiles on Facebook and Instagram among the channels it uses to disclose material information, so a post from him can count as a company disclosure.
He holds the same two titles as Satya Nadella, Microsoft's chairman and CEO. The difference is that Nadella joined Microsoft as an engineer in 1992, while Zuckerberg founded his company and controls its vote.
Is Mark Zuckerberg the Owner of Instagram and WhatsApp?
Not personally, since Meta owns both apps and Zuckerberg controls Meta. Its annual report counts Facebook and Messenger alongside Instagram and WhatsApp as the company's "Family" of products.
Facebook bought both apps while he ran it, starting when it agreed to acquire Instagram in April 2012. Zuckerberg wrote at the time that Facebook was "committed to building and growing Instagram independently." Facebook's own filing shows it agreed to acquire WhatsApp in February 2014.
So Instagram's owner is Meta, and Meta belongs to its shareholders. Zuckerberg holds a minority of Meta's shares and most of its votes. Those votes and his job as CEO give him control of the company that runs those apps.
Can Mark Zuckerberg Be Fired From Meta?
On paper Meta's board could replace its chief executive, but in practice Zuckerberg decides who sits on that board.
Meta's information statement says Zuckerberg held about 60.6% of the voting power on 1 October 2026 and about 13.4% of the economic interest. That gives him "the ability to elect all of our directors," it adds. The gap between those numbers comes from Meta's share classes. Class B shares carry ten votes each and Class A shares one. Most of his stake sits in Class B.
The 2025 annual report spells out what that means. It says Zuckerberg can "control the management and major strategic investments" of Meta, both as chief executive and through his power over the election of directors.
So the realistic answer is no, at least while his votes stay above half. A board that tried to remove him could itself be replaced by the votes Zuckerberg holds.
Can Zuckerberg Sell Meta's New Class C Shares Without Losing Control?
Zuckerberg can sell one fifth of his Class C shares freely and the rest only by giving up votes until they're released, so the late-October reading was true in part.
TechCrunch's headline ended "without losing control of Meta", and its story quoted the 20% limit further down.
Class C shares carry no votes, except where Meta's restated charter or the law gives them. Meta's board declared one for every Class A and Class B share as a one-time dividend, which Meta says "will not change the voting power of any shareholder."
The limits on Zuckerberg come from a Founder Alignment Agreement he signed with Meta on 20 October 2026, which frees 20% of his Class C shares. Each sale of the other 80% generally has to be matched within two business days by selling one of his voting shares or converting a ten-vote Class B share into a one-vote Class A share.
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Question
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What Meta's filings say
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Who receives Class C?
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Every Class A and B holder, one C share per share
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How many votes per share?
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B ten, A one, C none unless charter or law gives them
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How much can he sell freely?
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20% of his Class C, without touching his majority
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What about the other 80%?
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Matched within two business days by a voting share
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When is the 80% released?
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2.5% per full quarter as a full-time leader, 32 in all
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When does it start?
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Charter scheduled for 19 Jan 2027, dividend after
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The Class C shares don't exist yet, because Meta's new charter is scheduled to take effect on 19 January 2027 and the dividend comes after that. Meta intends to list Class C on Nasdaq once the shares exist, and expects the Class A price to reflect a two-for-one split after the payout.
Alphabet, the company Sundar Pichai runs as CEO, built its stock the same way and gives its Class C shares no votes except where the law requires. Its annual report says issuing that stock could keep its founders' voting power in place.
Mark Zuckerberg's Career From Facebook to Meta
Zuckerberg studied computer science at Harvard University, and Meta's leadership page says he founded the company as Facebook in 2004. Meta's annual report dates its incorporation in Delaware to July 2004, and the company went public in May 2012.
Zuckerberg has held a controlling voting interest since the company's start, Meta's information statement says, and going public didn't loosen it. His share of the vote was about 53.7% in March 2013 and has risen since, partly because Meta has bought back Class A stock.
Zuckerberg's Facebook unveiled its crypto project in June 2019 when it announced Calibra, a new subsidiary building a digital wallet for Libra. Facebook called Libra "a new global currency powered by blockchain technology." That announcement page later recorded two renamings, with Calibra becoming Novi in May 2020 and Libra changing its name to Diem in December 2020.
Then the company changed its own name. Facebook, Inc. changed its corporate name to Meta Platforms on 28 October 2021, and its Class A shares moved to the META ticker in June 2022. Meta's leadership page says the new name reflected its whole family of apps and a focus on building social experiences for the metaverse.
In October 2026, a special committee of Meta's independent directors concluded Zuckerberg was "best suited to lead Meta into its next era and beyond." It gave that as one reason for the Class C plan, which Meta presented alongside its third-quarter results.
How to Trade META Futures on Phemex
Phemex lists META as a perpetual futures contract that tracks Meta's Class A share price and settles in USDT, with leverage of up to 10x. Futures use leverage, and a leveraged position is closed automatically if losses push its margin below a set minimum.
As with every one of Phemex's TradFi markets, you hold a contract with no shares, votes or dividends attached. That's how TradFi futures work, so a META position won't collect Class C shares when Meta pays its dividend.
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Fund your futures account with USDT, since META contracts settle in it.
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Open the META / USDT market, choose long or short and set your leverage before you enter.
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Add a stop-loss before you enter, so you choose your exit before liquidation can.
META futures closed mid-November at about $627, up 0.3% on the day.
What to watch: META keeps trading on Phemex through weekends while Nasdaq is shut. Spreads can widen in those hours, and what to know before trading TradFi futures covers that along with funding costs.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Mark Zuckerberg own at Meta?
Zuckerberg held about 13.4% of Meta's economic interest and about 60.6% of its voting power on 1 October 2026, according to Meta's information statement. Most of those votes come from ten-vote Class B shares.
When did Facebook become Meta?
Facebook took the corporate name Meta Platforms on 28 October 2021, and its Class A shares switched to the META ticker in June 2022.
What happened to Facebook's Libra?
Facebook announced Calibra, its wallet for a new digital currency called Libra, in June 2019. Its own announcement page later recorded that Calibra was renamed Novi in May 2020 and that Libra became Diem in December 2020.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice. Cryptocurrency trading involves substantial risk. Always do your own research before making investment decisions.
