New to this? Read it in simple words
- Meta will give its shareholders new shares that have no vote, in January 2027.
- Meta can use these shares to raise money without weakening Zuckerberg’s control.
- Meta expects $135 billion to $145 billion of capital spending in 2026, much of it for AI.
- Zuckerberg agreed to stay in California for eight years.
- Nonvoting share
- A share that owns part of a company, but gives no vote on how the company is run.
- Capital spending
- Money a company spends on long-lasting things, such as buildings, computers and data centres.
- Free cash flow
- The cash a company has left after paying its running costs and its big investments.
Meta owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and is spending heavily on AI data centres and on its Muse agent. On Wednesday, October 21, it reported its results for the third quarter and announced a new kind of share.
A new share with no vote
Meta will create a publicly listed Class C share that carries no votes. Each existing Class A and Class B share will get one Class C share as a one-time stock dividend, from January 19, 2027.
Meta says it may use the new shares to raise capital, pay staff, buy companies and for general purposes. Its finance chief, Susan Li, said on the results call that Meta has no specific financing plans to announce.
No shareholder meeting will be held. Holding companies linked to Mark Zuckerberg, with about 56.1% of the votes, approved the change in writing on October 20, Meta’s filings show.
From Meta’s results release and filings of October 21.
Why AI is behind it
Meta’s filing shows it may need to raise “hundreds of billions of dollars” over several years to pay for its AI plans, Reuters reports. A board committee pointed to “unprecedented challenge and competition” in the industry, driven by AI.
Meta now expects capital spending of $135 billion to $145 billion in 2026, up from a low end of $130 billion before. In the third quarter alone it spent $34.91 billion, mainly on servers, data centres and network equipment, Li said.
That was more than the $32.79 billion of cash its operations brought in, so free cash flow was negative $2.12 billion. Revenue still grew 26% to $64.6 billion.
Zuckerberg’s California deal
In a separate agreement, Zuckerberg committed to stay a resident of California, or wherever Meta has its headquarters, for eight years. In return, he can sell part of his new Class C shares.
Zuckerberg had told Meta he was thinking of leaving California because of Proposition 40, Reuters and AFP report. The ballot measure in November would put a one-time 5% tax on the state’s billionaires.
He can sell 20% of his Class C shares at once, so he could pay a possible tax bill without losing voting control, Reuters reports.
Muse, the agent Meta is betting on
Zuckerberg said more than 10 million people in the US and Canada had set up Muse, Meta’s personal AI agent, in about six weeks. TechCrunch says this matches earlier estimates by the market research firm Sensor Tower.
Zuckerberg named shopping as one of the main uses, with an average purchase of over $200.
Sources6
Sources
Every fact in this story comes from the sources below. Open them to check our work.
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- 4Research · October 22, 2026Meta strikes deal to keep Zuckerberg in California after wealth tax concerns Reuters (via The Korea Times)
- 5Research · October 22, 2026Meta offers Zuckerberg share deal to stay in California as billionaire tax vote looms AFP (via Malay Mail)
- 6Research · October 21, 2026Meta says Muse has over 10M users, with shopping a top activity TechCrunch
The money figures and the share plan come from Meta’s own release and filings. The Muse figures are Meta’s claims, and outlets read its shopping numbers in different ways.
Meta’s AI spending outran its cash in the quarter, so it plans voteless shares that protect Zuckerberg’s control, despite 26% revenue growth. How we rate the mood