Sir Nick Clegg was paid a bonus worth almost £10 million when he was promoted to his new role at Meta, the owner of Facebook, it was reported yesterday.
The former deputy prime minister received the sum as part of a stock package this year, according to Bloomberg. The bonus coincided with his promotion to president of global affairs at the company and comes on top of his annual salary, which has been reported as being about £2.7 million.
It also doubled the total value of shares he has received since joining the company three years ago, Bloomberg said.
Clegg, 55, has led Meta’s response to the war in Ukraine, where he changed the social media giant’s rules to allow Ukrainians to urge violence against Russian troops.
However, he rejected requests by President Zelensky to block Facebook and Instagram in Russia to stop the Kremlin using the platforms to post state propaganda, arguing that it would prevent people in the country organising protests and receiving reliable information about events in Ukraine.
Clegg has also had negotiations with Russian government officials, who demanded Facebook stop fact-checking posts from state-backed media accounts such as RT and Sputnik, which he rejected. He has blocked RT and Sputnik from Facebook in Europe and the UK. The Kremlin retaliated by banning Facebook and Instagram.
Clegg, who has been criticised in the UK over his role in opposing plans to regulate social media companies, has said that his promotion makes the company more agile in its response to the war in Ukraine as he can act independently of Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chairman and chief executive. Meta did not comment on Clegg’s reported bonus.
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Sir Nick Clegg wins ‘£10m promotion bonus’ with new Meta role