Meta executives could earn nearly $1 billion each if they hit goals in pursuit of a $9 trillion valuation

The moonshot compensation packages awarded to executives like Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Axon CEO Rick Smith, and DoorDash CEO Tony Xu in recent years have followed a predictable script: They promise astronomical pay if the leader of a company hits audacious financial targets. 

The idea behind moonshot pay is that conventional salaries and bonuses don’t motivate the kind of tectonic risk-taking and visionary leadership that turns good companies into generational ones. So boards offer executives...