All posts tagged: Mark Zuckerberg

Meta Employees Are Scrambling to Use Up Benefits Ahead of Layoffs

Meta Employees Are Scrambling to Use Up Benefits Ahead of Layoffs

Ahead of Meta’s latest round of mass layoffs tomorrow, some employees are deserting offices, abandoning their work, and loading up on perks they might soon lose, several people at the company tell WIRED. Two employees describe a widespread rush to use up an annual $2,000 flexible benefit, which can cover a variety of expenses including health and wellness activities. A separate triennial credit of $200 toward the purchase of audio gear has led to a scramble to purchase Apple AirPods and other headphones. Another source says Meta offices have been largely empty this week, as people prioritize polishing their résumés and gather offsite to commiserate with friends for what may be their final time as colleagues. Employees are variously “paralyzed,” “coasting,” and “panicked,” sources say. Meta plans to lay off about 10 percent of its nearly 80,000 employees on Wednesday, with notices going out to affected workers’ personal and corporate email addresses at 4 am in their local time zone, according to a company-wide memo sent on Monday. The cuts are coming at a time …

The Zuckerbergs Are Hiring a Lifeguard but Calling It a ‘Beach Water Person’

The Zuckerbergs Are Hiring a Lifeguard but Calling It a ‘Beach Water Person’

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan are hiring a seasonal, on-call “Beach Water Person” based in Kauai, Hawaii, where the family owns a sprawling compound, according to a new job listing on Greenhouse associated with West 10, the Zuckerberg family office. This is an interesting choice for a job title, because according to the job description, the primary duties of this “Beach Water Person” include serving as a “Beach Lifeguard,” and “Pool Lifeguard.” In other words, being a lifeguard. The job listing names a few additional duties related to water activities, such as instructing “stand-up paddleboarding (SUP), canoe paddling, snorkeling, and other ocean-based activities.” These, however, come after the water safety duties in the job description. This position easily could have been called “Pool/Beach Lifeguard,” or simply “Lifeguard.” For the sake of comprehensiveness, “Pool/Beach Lifeguard and Boat Deckhand” would have also worked. Alternatively, the Zuckerbergs could have chosen “Beach/Pool Attendant,” a job title roughly synonymous with lifeguard that could reasonably be interpreted as encompassing extra duties associated with leisure, such as tending …

An Engineer’s Post Protesting Laptop Surveillance Is Going Viral Inside Meta

An Engineer’s Post Protesting Laptop Surveillance Is Going Viral Inside Meta

Meta’s decision to track employee keystrokes and mouse data is causing an uproar within the company. “Selfishly, I don’t want my screen scraped because it feels like an invasion of my privacy,” wrote an engineer in an internal post seen by nearly 20,000 coworkers this week. “But zooming out, I don’t want to live in a world where humans—employees or otherwise—are exploited for their training data.” The message aimed to rally support for a petition circulating inside the company since last Thursday that demands an end to what Meta calls the Model Capability Initiative. It’s a piece of mandatory software that Meta began installing on the laptops of US employees last month. The tool records employees’ screens when using certain apps with the goal of collecting “real examples of how people actually use” computers, including “mouse movements, clicking buttons, and navigating dropdown menus,” according to Reuters. Meta has yet to say whether the initial data is paying off. “I’m mixed on Al. On one hand, I really enjoy using it to write software. On the …

Meta’s New Reality: Record High Profits. Record Low Morale

Meta’s New Reality: Record High Profits. Record Low Morale

As Meta employees brace for layoffs next Wednesday, May 20, many say the vibes are horrifically, historically low. “Everyone is unhappy; the only people who are not unhappy are, literally, executives,” says an employee who works on Instagram. The social media giant plans to cut about 10 percent of its workforce, or nearly 8,000 people, “to run the company more efficiently” and “offset the other investments” it’s making, according to a human resources leader. But the layoffs, which will add to the roughly 25,000 cuts Meta has announced over the past four years, are far from the only cause of rock-bottom morale. Widening pay gaps among employees, courtroom losses for the company, and mandatory role changes for hundreds of top engineers have also contributed to what employees view as a uniquely grim atmosphere inside Meta. Yet another issue has been the recent installation of corporate software on employees’ computers to track their activity solely in the name of training AI, according to 16 current and former employees from a variety of roles who spoke with …

What the Tech Guys Wore to the Met Gala

What the Tech Guys Wore to the Met Gala

It is not exactly news that the billionaire tech elite are increasingly interested in fashion, both professionally (think: Web3’s virtual duds) and personally, upgrading their personal wardrobes and embedding themselves in the buzzy social milieu that accompanies fashion’s many splashy events. Earlier this year, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, sat front row at Prada’s fall runway show, both of them dressed in the brand’s designs—months after Meta had linked with Prada to produce “smart glasses” with the label’s eyewear partner, EssilorLuxottica. Back in January, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, sat front row at Schiaparelli and Dior during Paris Couture Week. Then, on Monday, the Bezoses served as honorary co-chairs at the 2026 Met Gala, reportedly donating $10 million to the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos, honorary chairs of this year’s Met Gala, inside the event. Kevin Mazur/MG26/Getty Images While her husband skipped the famous carpet photo op at the so-dubbed “Tech Gala,” Sánchez Bezos posed on the Met steps in …

Elon Musk billionaire bill fans draw progressive challengers in Delaware

Elon Musk billionaire bill fans draw progressive challengers in Delaware

An Elon Musk sign sits in a bush the federal courthouse during proceedings in the trial over Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI in Oakland, California, on April 30, 2026. Josh Edelson | AFP | Getty Images A progressive wing of the Democratic Party in Delaware is endorsing primary opponents to six incumbent Democratic state lawmakers who pushed for a change to the state’s corporate law that benefits executives and billionaires, including Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, who have faced shareholder litigation in the state. The Delaware Working Families Party told CNBC exclusively that it is endorsing six Democratic candidates in primaries against fellow Democratic incumbents who supported SB 21. The measure became law in 2025 and was dubbed the “billionaires bill” by opponents. The law altered how companies can use independent directors and other officials to ensure deals they’ve made will pass muster in court, and it limited the records shareholders can obtain from companies when investigating possible wrongdoing. Before the bill became law, many institutional investors, legal scholars and shareholders’ attorneys opposed it, arguing …

Tech CEOs Think AI Will Let Them Be Everywhere at Once

Tech CEOs Think AI Will Let Them Be Everywhere at Once

Silicon Valley moguls have lately complained that too many people are too negative about artificial intelligence. They’re likewise frustrated by stalled AI adoption among major corporations that aren’t seeing the lucrative efficiencies promised by Big Tech. But if consumers and corporations are proving resistant to AI’s acceleration, it hasn’t stopped billionaire CEOs from charging ahead with their personal fantasies of what the technology can do. On April 13, the Financial Times reported that Meta is working up a photorealistic, three-dimensional AI avatar of chief exec Mark Zuckerberg, according to several people at the company. Trained on his public comments, mannerisms, and up-to-date perspectives on corporate strategy, the bot is being designed to interact with Meta staff on Zuckerberg’s behalf. Employees would supposedly be able to hop on a video chat with the avatar, which could answer questions and offer managerial guidance and feedback. Zuckerberg is personally involved in testing and training his animated doppelgänger, Meta employees told the Financial Times, noting that this early-stage project has become a priority amid the development of various other …

Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, Strong

Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, Strong

The Social Reckoning director Aaron Sorkin hit the stage at CinemaCon to debut the trailer for the companion piece to The Social Network. “A while back, we told a story about a college kid who built a website in his dorm and connected the world. Well, as you might have noticed, a couple of things have changed since that since that dream exploded into a global corporation,” Sorkin told the crowd. “There isn’t the life that Facebook’s algorithm hasn’t touched, and that influence has reshaped everything.” “It’s time to say more,” Sorkin continued, teasing of the new film, “It’s a real David and Goliath story.” Sony Pictures is set to release The Social Reckoning in theaters Oct. 9. The buzzy cast includes Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, Bill Burr and Jeremy Strong. “I am here to help Facebook, not hurt it, OK?” Madison says in the trailer. This footage marks the first look at Strong as Mark Zuckerberg. “I am professional defendant,” Strong quips from a courtroom in the trailer. Later, he says of himself, “I am a free speech absolutist.” …

Mark Zuckerberg texted Elon Musk to offer help with DOGE

Mark Zuckerberg texted Elon Musk to offer help with DOGE

While the relationship between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg was once thorny enough that Musk challenged Zuckerberg to a cagefight, things had warmed up by the early days of the second Trump administration — at least according to court documents published Friday. As reported by Engadget, these texts between Zuckerberg and Musk were released as part of Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI. They were sent on February 3, 2025, around the time Zuckerberg appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast to complain that corporate America had become “emasculated.” Referring to Musk’s aggressive government-slashing efforts through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Zuckerberg texted, “Looks like DOGE is making progress. I’ve got our teams on alert to take down content doxxing or threatening the people on your team. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help.” Musk reacted with a heart emoji, then asked, “Are you open to the idea of bidding on OpenAI with me and some others?” In response, the Meta CEO suggested discussing the idea over the phone. According to previously released …

Mark Zuckerberg Sat in Prada’s Front Row at Milan Fashion Week

Mark Zuckerberg Sat in Prada’s Front Row at Milan Fashion Week

At any given fashion week, buzzy guests are to be expected in the front row at runway shows. In recent seasons, the usual crowd featuring the entertainment ilk (K-pop idols, internet stars, and actors who have struck deals as “friends of the house”) has increasingly come to include the tech elite. Last month, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, attended Jonathan Anderson’s debut couture show for Dior. Then today, seated front row aside the white-carpeted runway at the Prada fall 2026 womenswear show in Milan, were Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan. The couple, who were both dressed in Prada, arrived shortly before the show began in the company of Anna Wintour and Eva Chen, the director of fashion partnerships at Instagram. Seated next to Miuccia Prada’s son, Lorenzo Bertelli, they observed as messy-haired models in the brand’s signature pointed slingback heels clomped past. Zuckerberg—who has spent the last several years updating his wardrobe—wore a taupe long-sleeved knit polo and dark brown slacks, while Chan sported a …