Many of the biggest companies on the US stock market are still run by the people who started them, long after millions of strangers have bought in. Founders often keep that grip through a second type of share that carries extra votes, so their say stays large even as their slice of the company shrinks.
That split catches out anyone who reads a list of the top holders and assumes the biggest names are in charge. A fund manager can own more shares than the founder and still hold a small part of the votes, while the founder picks the board and decides how most votes end.
Public filings show both halves of the picture. A company's yearly proxy statement lists the people and firms that own the most stock and the votes each one holds. Other filings track every sale by an insider and every quarter's holdings at the big funds.
Meta Platforms, owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, shows this split more sharply than most large companies, because its founder holds the vote with a small part of the shares. BloFin offers two ways to follow Meta with crypto. METAX, a token backed by Meta shares, is listed against USDT on the METAX/USDT Spot market, and for leverage there is the METAUSDT Perpetual, which follows Meta's share price as a futures contract.
Who owns Meta?
Meta belongs to its shareholders, and one of them controls it. Mark Zuckerberg, its founder and chief executive, held about 13.5% of the shares and, by Meta's proxy, 60.8% of the votes on April 1, 2026 (source: Meta 2026 proxy statement). BlackRock reported the largest single fund holding for June 30, 2026: about 7.9% of Class A stock, or 3.1% of all votes (source: BlackRock 13F for June 30, 2026).
Owning a company and running it are two different questions here. Ownership follows the number of shares, because every Meta share, of either class, gets the same dividend and the same claim on what the company owns. Control follows the votes. Zuckerberg holds almost all of the shares that carry ten votes each, which is why he can win any normal vote by himself.
The rest of Meta's stock is spread across pension funds, index funds, banks and millions of small investors. On October 20, 2026, Stock Analysis put big institutions at 67.86% of the shares and insiders at 13.42% (source: Stock Analysis Meta statistics). Nearly all of that insider stake is Zuckerberg's, since the other directors and officers held well under 1% between them (source: Meta 2026 proxy statement).
People also type "who owns Meta" when they mean what Meta itself owns. That list is Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Threads, plus Reality Labs, the arm that makes its headsets and smart glasses. Those apps earn the profit that every holder shares in, and they sit behind what moves Meta's share price from one quarter to the next.
How much of Meta does Mark Zuckerberg own?
Mark Zuckerberg controlled 342,463,325 Meta shares on April 1, 2026: 341,823,978 Class B shares plus 639,347 Class A shares held by a charity he controls. That is about 13.5% of all the shares, and 99.8% of the Class B stock, which gave him 60.8% of the votes (source: Meta 2026 proxy statement).
He holds almost none of it in his own name. The proxy lists his own trust, set up in 2006, CZI Holdings and a group of Chan Zuckerberg Holdings companies, and he has sole power to vote and sell for all of them. The Class A shares sit with Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, a nonprofit, where he controls the vote but gets none of the money (source: Meta 2026 proxy statement). The companies have moved shares among themselves since April, and his September 2026 Form 4 adds two newer ones, Chan Zuckerberg Holdings VI and Chan Zuckerberg Holdings A (source: Zuckerberg Form 4, September 2026).
Holder on Meta's books, April 1, 2026 | Class B shares |
|---|---|
Chan Zuckerberg Holdings II, III, IV and V | 200,000,000 (50,000,000 each) |
CZI Holdings | 109,373,980 |
Chan Zuckerberg Holdings | 17,061,801 |
CZI Holdings I (pledged for a loan) | 12,000,000 |
The Mark Zuckerberg Trust (2006) | 3,388,097 |
CZ Management | 100 |
Twelve million of those shares back a loan. Meta's board allows that within two limits: pledged shares can be at most 20% of his stake, and the loan at most 5% of the stake's market value when he borrows. The pledge was 3.5% of his shares and 2.1% of all votes on April 1 (source: Meta 2026 proxy statement).
Here is what those limits mean in dollars. Meta closed at $694.25 on October 20, 2026 (source: Stock Analysis Meta statistics), so the roughly 342.4 million shares he controlled after his September sale were worth about $237.7 billion (source: Zuckerberg Form 4, September 2026). At that price the pledged block was worth about $8.3 billion, and 5% of the whole stake would cap any new loan at about $11.9 billion.
His pay from Meta is tiny next to that. The proxy says he takes a salary of $1 a year with no bonus or stock awards. Most of what he gets from Meta comes to him as an owner, through the value of his stock and Meta's dividend, which pays $0.525 a share each quarter (source: Meta 10-Q for the second quarter of 2026). At that rate, the 341.2 million Class B shares he held after September collect about $179.1 million every three months (source: Zuckerberg Form 4, September 2026).
How Meta's dual-class shares work
Meta has two classes of common stock. Class A shares, ticker META, trade on Nasdaq and carry one vote each, while Class B shares are unlisted and carry ten, and both get the same dividend per share. On July 24, 2026 the Class B shares were 13.4% of all shares yet carried 60.8% of the votes (source: Meta 10-Q for the second quarter of 2026).
Share class, July 24, 2026 | Shares | Votes per share | Votes | Share of all votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Class A (trades as META) | 2,205,128,509 | 1 | 2,205,128,509 | 39.2% |
Class B (unlisted) | 342,377,716 | 10 | 3,423,777,160 | 60.8% |
For anyone holding a listed Meta share, the number that decides control is in Meta's annual report. Class B holders, led by Zuckerberg, decide every matter put to a vote "so long as the shares of Class B common stock represent at least 9.1% of all outstanding shares" (source: Meta 10-K for 2025).
That 9.1% comes from simple math. With ten votes against one, Class B keeps half the votes as long as it is at least one share in eleven, and one divided by eleven is 9.1%. On the July 24 count, about 110.8 million Class B shares would have to become Class A before that line was crossed. That is about 32% of the Class B shares Zuckerberg holds.
A Class B share can be swapped for one Class A share whenever its holder chooses (source: Zuckerberg Form 4, September 2026). It also converts by itself when it is sold or given away, apart from some transfers for estate planning or charity. Each swap turns ten votes into one. The 10-K points out the other side. As other holders convert, the Class B that is left carries a bigger share of the votes, so a founder who keeps his shares can stay in charge for longer (source: Meta 10-K for 2025).
A second line sits lower down. Until Class B falls below 35% of the votes, any deal that would hand control of Meta to someone else needs the backing of most Class B shares voting by themselves (source: Meta 10-K for 2025). On the July 24 count that line is about 212.2 million conversions away. Meta also counts as a "controlled company" under Nasdaq's rules, so it could drop its majority of independent directors, though it has chosen to keep one (source: Meta 2026 proxy statement).
Meta once tried a third class. In 2016 it planned to hand out Class C shares with no vote, then dropped the idea in 2017, a story told in Meta's stock split history. Alphabet did go ahead with three classes, and GOOGL and GOOG share classes show how a class without a vote trades next to one with a vote.
Zuckerberg's 2026 share sales under a 10b5-1 plan
Zuckerberg's entities last sold Meta stock on September 24, 2026, parting with 27,474 Class A shares worth about $21.4 million in total, according to a Form 4 filed four days later. Every share went under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan adopted on January 31, 2026, which fixes trades in advance (source: Zuckerberg Form 4, September 2026).
A Form 4 is the report an insider files with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after buying, selling or giving away shares. Reading this one line by line shows the two classes at work. First, CZI Holdings turned 17,140 Class B shares into Class A, a step marked with the code C. It then sold all 17,140 in five batches, marked S, at average prices between about $775 and $779.
The other 10,334 shares came from Chan Zuckerberg Biohub. Zuckerberg decides how those shares vote and when they are sold, but the money goes to the charity, so only the CZI part was a sale from his own stake. The whole sale came to about 0.008% of the 342.5 million shares he controlled before it and took away about 182,000 of his more than 3.4 billion votes.
The plan itself is small next to his stake. Meta's first-quarter 10-Q says it allows sales of up to 639,347 Class A and 1,268,340 Class B shares held by entities tied to Zuckerberg. It was set to end on November 1, 2026 (source: Meta 10-Q for the first quarter of 2026). Even if every share in it were sold, he would part with about 0.56% of his stake.
A 10b5-1 plan is set up at a time when the insider holds no inside information, and the trades then run on its fixed terms. That is why a sale under one says little about what the insider thinks of the price that week. Other Meta leaders sell the same way. Chris Cox, Meta's chief product officer, set up a plan on May 19, 2026 to sell up to 80,000 Class A shares by July 2027 (source: Meta 10-Q for the second quarter of 2026).
The largest institutional shareholders of Meta
BlackRock filed the largest single holding of Meta for June 30, 2026, with 173.4 million Class A shares, about 7.9% of that class (source: BlackRock 13F for June 30, 2026). Vanguard Capital Management held 143.4 million and Fidelity's parent, FMR, 95.9 million, according to each firm's quarterly 13F filing (source: Vanguard Capital Management 13F) (source: FMR 13F). Their votes are a far smaller share.
A 13F is the quarterly list of US stock holdings that large fund managers file with the SEC. Each fund's share is worked out against Meta's Class A shares and total votes on July 24, 2026.
Fund manager (13F at June 30, 2026) | Meta Class A shares | Share of Class A | Share of all votes |
|---|---|---|---|
BlackRock | 173,396,976 | 7.9% | 3.1% |
Vanguard Capital Management | 143,440,997 | 6.5% | 2.5% |
FMR (Fidelity) | 95,895,744 | 4.3% | 1.7% |
Together the three firms held about 412.7 million shares. That is 18.7% of the Class A stock but only 7.3% of all votes, measured against Meta's share count (source: Meta 10-Q for the second quarter of 2026).
Set that next to Zuckerberg. The three largest 13F filers own about 1.2 times as many Meta shares as he does, yet carry about an eighth of his voting power. Their clients get the same dividend per share as he does, and far less say.
Vanguard is missing from Meta's proxy for a paperwork reason. On January 12, 2026 it reorganized so that its units report their holdings one by one, and its parent then reported owning no Class A shares as of March 13, 2026 (source: Meta 2026 proxy statement). Vanguard Portfolio Management, its other large unit, held a further 38.4 million shares on June 30, 2026, so its two largest units held 181.8 million between them, more than BlackRock's single filing (source: Vanguard Portfolio Management 13F). Lists that still show one line for "The Vanguard Group" may be reading filings from before the split.
Lists also differ because they draw on different filings. The proxy took BlackRock's 157.8 million shares from a Schedule 13G it filed in February 2024 (source: Meta 2026 proxy statement). A 13G is a separate report big holders file when they pass 5% of a class, and the 13F is newer. Check the date beside any holding before you compare two of them.
Meta's dual-class shares and the S&P 500
Meta's two share classes have never kept it out of the S&P 500, the index most US index funds follow. S&P Dow Jones Indices barred new companies with several share classes in mid-2017 but let existing members stay. It lifted the bar on April 17, 2023, so such companies can join again if they meet the other rules (source: S&P Dow Jones Indices on share class rules).
Meta joined the index as Facebook after the close on December 20, 2013 (source: S&P Dow Jones Indices on Facebook joining the S&P 500), so it was already a member when the bar arrived. S&P says its existing members with several share classes have been grandfathered in since July 31, 2017, while tracking stocks stay barred even under the newer rule (source: S&P Dow Jones Indices on share class rules).
That history matters for ownership because index funds must buy what their index holds. A fund built to match the S&P 500 holds Meta's Class A shares in line with Meta's weight in the index, whatever its managers think of the voting setup.
So a large slice of Meta's Class A stock sits with managers who cannot sell to protest the structure. Their main tool is the yearly vote, and with Class A holding about 39% of the votes, that tool has a ceiling.
What Meta's other shareholders voted on in 2026
When Meta's shareholders met on May 27, 2026, a proposal to give every share one vote was defeated, drawing 1.3 billion votes in favor and 3.6 billion opposed. A second proposal, asking Meta to publish vote results split by share class, also failed, with 1.0 billion for and 4.0 billion against (source: Meta 8-K on the 2026 annual meeting).
The one-vote-per-share proposal came from NorthStar Asset Management's pension plan. It asked the board to phase out the extra Class B votes, perhaps over seven years. Its backers wrote that outside holders gave the same request 88% support in 2025. Meta's board replied that the current setup lets the board and management "focus on the long term" (source: Meta 2026 proxy statement).
Because Meta reports one combined total, nobody outside the company can see exactly how Class A holders voted. You can estimate it. Zuckerberg's shares carried about 3.4 billion votes, so if all of them went against the proposal, the remaining 0.2 billion votes against compare with 1.3 billion for. That works out to about 85% support from everyone else, though it rests on how he voted, which the filing leaves out.
Holders still re-elected all twelve directors, Zuckerberg among them with 4.7 billion votes for and 0.3 billion withheld (source: Meta 8-K on the 2026 annual meeting). Meta points to its Lead Independent Director, Robert Kimmitt, and to a board where every member except Zuckerberg is independent, as the check on his power (source: Meta 2026 proxy statement).
Where METAX holders sit in Meta's ownership
METAX holders sit outside Meta's list of shareholders and have no vote at its meetings. The token follows the price of a Meta share, and the xStocks terms say the tokens "do not convey shareholder rights, such as voting rights" (source: xStocks FAQ). Your exposure runs through the token's issuer and its collateral, while the vote stays with the share.
The METAUSDT Perpetual sits even further away. BloFin's notice on stock futures says they give no ownership of the stock or its tokens and no dividends, voting rights or other shareholder rights (source: BloFin stock futures notice). A position there tracks Meta's price and nothing else.
In practice that puts a token holder close to a small Class A holder, whose single vote barely registers next to 3.4 billion Class B votes. The gap is legal: a Class A holder has a vote to cast, while a token holder has economic exposure through the issuer. The full side-by-side, including a plan to let some xStocks holders send voting preferences, is in METAX compared with a real Meta share.
Only Class A shares trade, so the shares behind the token are Class A stock, held in segregated accounts by the issuer's custodians, so they also sit among the votes that Zuckerberg outweighs (source: xStocks FAQ). Whether those shares are really there is checked through proof of reserves for METAX.
Following Meta's price from a crypto account needs no place on the share register. To watch Meta's price as new filings land, open the token's METAX/USDT Spot page, or check funding and the mark price on the METAUSDT Perpetual page.
How to track changes in Meta's ownership
Changes in who owns Meta show up in three kinds of SEC filing. Insiders file a Form 4 within days of a trade, big fund managers file a 13F after each quarter ends, and Meta's proxy statement, filed each spring, updates Zuckerberg's stake and his share of the votes. All are free to read on the SEC's EDGAR site.
On EDGAR, Meta's Form 4 list shows each sale and gift by an insider, and the codes tell you what happened: S for a sale, C for a conversion and G for a gift. The cover page of each Meta 10-Q also gives the latest count of Class A and Class B shares. That is all you need to redo the share and vote math yourself.
Several of these filings fall close together in late 2026. Meta set its third-quarter 2026 report for Wednesday, October 21, 2026, after US markets shut (source: Meta third-quarter 2026 results notice), and the 10-Q filed after Meta's earnings release carries a fresh share count. Zuckerberg's trading plan was set to end on November 1, 2026, and 13F filings for September 30 follow within weeks.
Bezos at Amazon makes a useful contrast. Each Amazon share carries one vote, so his voting power tracks his stake, as who owns Amazon stock explains. At Meta the vote rests with one person, and the filings on EDGAR let you check each quarter whether that is still true.
Looking to trade Meta's price as its ownership filings come out? To get started, you'll need to first create a BloFin account, fund your account with cryptocurrency, and go to the METAX/USDT Spot trading page or the METAUSDT Perpetual trading page.
Frequently asked questions
Is Meta owned by Google?
Meta and Google's parent company, Alphabet, are separate public companies with their own shareholders and their own boards. Meta trades on Nasdaq as META and is controlled by Mark Zuckerberg through its Class B shares, while Alphabet's shares trade as GOOGL and GOOG. The two compete for many of the same advertisers.
Who would control Meta if Zuckerberg sold most of his shares?
Control would pass to the shareholders as a whole once Class B fell below 9.1% of all shares, because Class A would then hold most of the votes. At that point Meta's board would also split into three groups elected in different years, and directors could then be removed only for cause. Empty seats on the board would be filled by the directors themselves, with no shareholder vote (source: Meta 10-K for 2025).
How much does Mark Zuckerberg get paid by Meta?
Zuckerberg's base salary is $1 a year, and he takes no bonus, stock awards or other incentive pay. Meta also pays for an "overall security program" for him, which its board says answers specific threats to his safety (source: Meta 2026 proxy statement).
What is Chan Zuckerberg Biohub's stake in Meta?
Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, a nonprofit research group, held 639,347 Meta Class A shares on April 1, 2026, and Zuckerberg controls how they are voted and sold (source: Meta 2026 proxy statement). Its stake had grown to 1,231,037 shares by late September 2026, when it sold 10,334 of them under his trading plan and kept 1,220,703 (source: Zuckerberg Form 4, September 2026).
Can Meta's Class A shareholders vote out its directors?
Class A holders vote on every director each year, but their votes cannot outweigh Zuckerberg's while Class B holds most of the voting power. All twelve directors were elected in May 2026 to serve until the next annual meeting (source: Meta 8-K on the 2026 annual meeting), so a director who lost Zuckerberg's backing could be replaced within a year.
Researched and written by the BloFin Academy editorial team with AI-assisted drafting. All facts independently verified. Primary sources include Meta's 2026 proxy statement, its 2025 annual report, its first- and second-quarter 2026 10-Q filings, the 8-K on its 2026 annual meeting and its third-quarter results notice, Mark Zuckerberg's Form 4 of September 2026, the June 30, 2026 13F filings of BlackRock, Vanguard Capital Management, Vanguard Portfolio Management and FMR, S&P Dow Jones Indices' index announcements, the xStocks FAQ, BloFin's stock futures notice and Stock Analysis, current as of October 21, 2026.
Nothing in this article constitutes financial advice, and nothing in it is a recommendation to buy, sell or hold Meta in any form. Holding Meta through METAX or the METAUSDT Perpetual gives you no vote, so decisions on Meta's spending, board and any sale of the company stay with Mark Zuckerberg while their price effects pass straight to you. METAX also depends on its issuer and custodians, and a leveraged perpetual position can be liquidated by a move far smaller than a full fall in Meta's share price. Past performance does not indicate future results. Do your own research and consider your risk tolerance before you trade on BloFin.