Meta reportedly plans non-voting stock to fund its AI buildout

Meta reportedly plans to create a new class of non-voting stock. The goal is to sell shares to fund AI development without touching Mark Zuckerberg’s grip on the company. Meta has not officially confirmed any plans for an equity issuance. The plan, if it happens, would mark a notable shift in how the company pays for one of the most expensive bets in corporate history. Why Meta needs the money Meta anticipates capital expenditures of between $130 billion and $145 billion for AI-related projects by 2026. Most of that money is aimed at data centers and other technological infrastructure. These are the server farms and computing clusters that train and run large AI models. Until now, Meta has paid for this buildout mostly through debt and operating cash flow. It has avoided large equity sales. That possibility has fueled market chatter about a potential “monster secondary” offering. A secondary offering is when a company sells additional shares to the public after its initial listing, which raises cash but spreads ownership across more shares. Protecting Zuckerberg’s control The non-voting structure exists for a specific reason. It lets Meta issue stock without diluting Zuckerberg’s v...