Facebook CEO Zuckerberg's salary dropped to just $1 last year but stock reaped him $3.3 BILLION

Zuckerberg, who exercised his stock options last year has earned $3.3billion in the space of a year.

17:21 01 April 2014

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s salary is just $1 but through his stock options, he managed to earn $3.3 billion last year through the social networking company he founded in a Harvard University dorm room.

Last year marks the second year that he realised a huge gain on the holding that he has accumulated in Facebook Inc. since he started it in 2004.

The 29-year-old has now exhausted his supply of stocks after selling 41.35 million shares for $55.05 each in December, primarily to pay for his tax bill gains.

In December, Zuckerberg and his wife made it on top of the Chronicle of Philantropy’s annual list of the most generous Americans after they donated 18million Facebook shares to a Silicon Valley non-profit organisation.

Despite selling and donating millions of Facebook shares, Zuckerberg still owns 426.3million Facebook shares currently worth $25.7billion. Facebook stock price has increased significantly after Zuckerberg was able to sell more ads on smartphones and table computers. Currently, Facebook gets more than half of its ad revenue from mobile devices.

Just like other company founders such as late Apple pioneer Steve Jobs, Zuckerberg asked Facebook to limit his annual salary to $1 annually.

Excluding stock option gains, Zuckerberg's total compensation last year plunged 67 percent from nearly $2 million in 2012 but the company stated that the bulk of this money was spent on his security and private transportation.