Mark Zuckerberg secures his position as dictator for life at Meta

Meta is introducing a three-class share structure that cements Mark Zuckerberg's majority voting power. By decoupling capital and power, the founder can sell shares without losing control of the corporation.

Menlo Park/San Francisco – On October 25, 2026, the US technology group Meta Platforms announced a far-reaching change to its corporate governance structure, which permanently cements the power relations in Silicon Valley. The introduction of a new share class will enable company founder Mark Zuckerberg to sell significant portions of his Meta stock on the market without losing his absolute voting majority and thus operational control over the company. This decision represents a climax in the debate over the concentration of power at global technology platforms and effectively overrides classic principles of shareholder participation.

Strategic decoupling of capital and power

The core of the new regulation lies in the creation of a three-tier share structure. Previously, Zuckerberg held Class B shares, which possessed ten times the voting rights compared to publicly traded Class A shares. The newly created category now allows capital to be withdrawn from the company to finance private projects or the development of new business areas such as the Metaverse, while the voting rights remain concentrated with Zuckerberg unchanged. Critics in the field of corporate governance see this as a dangerous precedent, as the usual link between financial risk and decision-making power is completely dissolved. Meta's Board of Directors, on the other hand, justifies the step with the necessary long-term stability to protect visionary projects from the short-term return pressure of Wall Street.

A case study for management education

For students and graduates of MBA programs, this process offers a highly relevant object of study for modules in Strategic Management and Leadership. In academic education, it is traditionally taught that a wide distribution of shares and strong control by independent supervisory boards increase a company's efficiency. Meta breaks with this dogma and instead relies on the model of the untouchable founder. This development reflects a trend that is increasingly discussed at leading business schools in the USA and Europe under the term "Founders Control." Future executives will increasingly have to deal with the question of how innovation is possible in structures that no longer possess internal democratic correctives.