Meta plans to pay a January stock dividend of one non-voting Class C share per Class A or Class B share outstanding, which gives the company stock to sell for cash, employee pay, or acquisitions without diluting anyone’s voting power, according to an 8-K filing. The plan came out alongside third-quarter results in which $34.91 billion in capital spending outran the $32.79 billion Meta’s operations generated, leaving free cash flow at negative $2.12 billion. CEO Mark Zuckerberg signed an agreement that lets him sell only 20% of his new Class C shares freely. Selling any of the remaining 80% generally has to be paired with selling or converting some of his voting stock, but 2.5% of those shares unlock every quarter he remains in a full-time leadership role.
