Instagram's top exec grilled about his pay at social media addiction trial

• Instagram's top executive took the stand during a trial about social media addiction.
• Adam Mosseri was grilled about how much he's paid by Meta.
• He said that he can make "tens of millions" a year.

Adam Mosseri's multimillion-dollar pay package took center stage on Wednesday as lawyers sought to link Meta's profits to platforms that addict children.

As the first of several tech executives to testify in a social media addiction trial playing out in Los Angeles state court, the head of Instagram said he is paid roughly $900,000 a year and receives annual performance-based bonuses that can be as high as half of his salary.

Like many executives of publicly traded social media companies, Mosseri, who's been head of Meta's Instagram since 2018, also earns stock-based compensation.

From the witness stand, Mosseri said that his stock-based pay varies year to year but that it has been in the "tens of millions of dollars." Some years, he said, he believes it's been over $20 million.

Mosseri made the comments while being questioned in Los Angeles Superior Court over a lawsuit that argues Meta and YouTube knowingly engineered their platforms to addict and cause harm to kids. Snap and TikTok were also named in the lawsuit but settled before trial for undisclosed amounts.

Mark Lanier, the attorney representing the plaintiff, pressed Mosseri on how the company determined its policy on cosmetic filters, such as filters that alter users' appearances, which was a key topic in court on Wednesday. He brought up Mosseri's compensation again while asking whether banning filters could have hurt Mosseri's bottom line by limiting the company's growth.

"I was never worried about this affecting our stock price," Mosseri said in court.

Meta declined to comment about Mosseri's compensation.

The lawsuit centers on a 20-year-old woman, identified by the initials KGM, who says her use of social media throughout her childhood negatively affected her mental health, contributing to depression and suicidal thoughts.

The case is considered a bellwether trial that could indicate how other similar lawsuits related to social media addiction might play out.

"We strongly disagree with these allegations and are confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people," Stephanie Otway, a Meta spokesperson, told Business Insider. Otway said the company has been making " meaningful changes—like introducing Teen Accounts with built-in protections and providing parents with tools to manage their teens' experiences."