Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri’s compensation came under fire during the landmark social media addiction trial against its parent company, Meta, and YouTube in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Mosseri, who has led Instagram since 2016, revealed under questioning that he is paid roughly $900,000 a year and receives annual performance-based bonuses that can be up to half his salary, according to multiple outlets covering the trial. Mosseri also earns stock-based pay, which he said varies yearly but has been in the “tens of millions of dollars.” Some years, it’s been over $20 million, he said.
The 20-year-old plaintiff, identified by the initials “KGM” or “Kaley,” alleges that she developed mental health issues owing to a social media addiction. Mosseri’s compensation came up when her lawyer, Mark Lanier, inquired about a connection between his pay and the choices he made about the company’s growth—and whether fueling social-media addiction was incentivized. Lanier also brought up Mosseri’s previous reference to Instagram’s addictive qualities in a podcast, although it was not apparent which podcast he was referring to. Mosseri explained that he was likely using the term “too casually,” as people sometimes do.
Mosseri strongly denied the claim that Instagram is addictive and targets teenagers to maximize profits, saying that the company makes the least money from teens compared with other demographics because they don’t have disposable income.
Mosseri said there is an important difference between “clinical addiction” and “problematic” use, though he also repeatedly said that he is not a medical professional.
“I believe protecting minors in the long run is good for profit and business,” Mosseri said when questioned by Meta’s lawyers. But that wasn’t all Mosseri had to contend with.
Internal documents exposed
Lanier displayed to the court internal documents written by Meta executives suggesting that they knew that filters were harmful for young women, but removing such filters would make the company less competitive, CNN reported.
“We are talking about encouraging young girls into body dysmorphia,” an email from a Meta executive read. In another email, an executive said that banning filters would “limit our ability to be competitive in Asian markets (including India).”
Instagram initially decided to ban all filters that distort faces, Mosseri said, but it later altered the decision.
Lanier asked Mosseri if banning filters that change users’ appearance could have affected the company’s bottom line. “I was never worried about this affecting our stock price,” Mosseri responded, defending against the idea that his compensation was linked to product-design choices that would be harmful to users.
Meta’s proxy statements filed with the SEC include detailed pay tables only for named executive officers, such as Mark Zuckerberg and a small number of top corporate executives; Mosseri is typically not listed among these named officers, so his exact annual compensation is not broken out in the proxy the way the CEO’s is, making his testimony the closest look yet at his compensation.
Meta did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment on the trial and Mosseri’s compensation.
Mosseri’s testimony offers a preview of what is to come next week, when Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify.
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