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Short answer: Meta reportedly offered a Thinking Machines Lab researcher a compensation package worth more than $1 billion over several years. The original report did not name the recipient, and Meta disputed the precise figures. Later reporting identified him as Andrew Tulloch and said he eventually joined Meta—so “declines” describes the initial response, not the final outcome.
What happened?
On July 29, 2025, WIRED reported that Meta had approached more than a dozen employees at Thinking Machines Lab, the small AI startup founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati.
According to sources cited by WIRED, one proposed compensation package was worth more than $1 billion over multiple years. Other reported packages ranged from $200 million to $500 million over four years, with some first-year guarantees said to be between $50 million and $100 million.
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At the time, WIRED reported that no Thinking Machines employee had accepted Meta’s offers. Meta confirmed that it had made recruiting approaches but disputed the reported figures and other details.
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The distinction matters. This was not a documented $1 billion cash payment made personally by Mark Zuckerberg. It was reportedly a multiyear employment package offered by Meta, with its ultimate value dependent on factors such as stock performance, vesting and incentives.
Who was the researcher?
The original WIRED report did not identify the person associated with the largest offer. Later reporting by Reuters and TechCrunch identified the likely recipient as Andrew Tulloch, a Thinking Machines co-founder and AI engineer.
Tulloch previously worked at Facebook and Meta for more than a decade, later joined OpenAI, and then co-founded Thinking Machines Lab with Murati. His background spans the kind of AI research and engineering expertise that major laboratories were competing for in 2025, including large-scale systems and infrastructure.
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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Because the original offer was never publicly documented through an offer letter or company filing, Tulloch’s identity should be attributed to the later reporting rather than presented as a detail confirmed in Meta’s original statement.
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Did he really reject $1 billion?
Initially, reportedly yes—but the rejection was not permanent.
The original reporting said no Thinking Machines employee had accepted Meta’s approaches during that period. Later, Reuters and other outlets reported that Tulloch left Thinking Machines and joined Meta. His eventual employment means he did not permanently reject Meta or every possible offer from the company.
The most accurate timeline is:
- July 2025: Meta reportedly pursued multiple Thinking Machines employees, including one person associated with a package valued above $1 billion.
- At that time: The recipient was unnamed, and the reported package had not been accepted.
- Later in 2025: Reporting identified the likely recipient as Andrew Tulloch and said he moved to Meta.
- What remains unknown: The terms of Tulloch’s eventual Meta package were not publicly disclosed, and it is unclear whether they were the same as the earlier reported offer.
Some later coverage associated Tulloch with a potential package worth up to $1.5 billion over at least six years. That figure should also be treated as a reported potential value, not guaranteed cash. Axios reported that the later package may have been lower than the earlier figure, while noting that the exact terms were not public.
What does a “$1 billion offer” actually mean?
At this level, compensation is normally a combination of several elements rather than a single salary:
- Base salary paid over the employment period
- Signing or retention bonuses
- Restricted Meta stock that vests over time
- Performance-based awards
- Other incentives tied to tenure, business results or share value
A headline value can therefore be much higher than the amount guaranteed on the first day. Stock awards may rise or fall with Meta’s share price, and unvested awards can be forfeited if an employee leaves. Performance incentives may also depend on conditions that are not publicly known.
There is no public record establishing the exact vesting schedule, guaranteed minimum, performance hurdles or strike price for the reported offer. It is consequently misleading to describe the episode as Zuckerberg paying an individual $1 billion or offering a $1 billion annual salary.
Why might someone turn down an offer that large?
The reporting does not establish Tulloch’s private reasoning. However, the appeal of Thinking Machines Lab helps explain why a multibillion-dollar technology company might not automatically win every candidate.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteThinking Machines was a small company built around former researchers and engineers from OpenAI, Meta and other leading AI organizations. Employees could have valued independence, control over research priorities, a close working environment and the opportunity to help build a new organization with Murati.
A startup’s equity can also offer substantial upside, although it is less certain and less liquid than compensation from a public company. Other possible considerations include a candidate’s view of Meta’s research direction, organizational structure or product priorities. Those are plausible trade-offs, not confirmed explanations for Tulloch’s initial decision.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why was Meta recruiting so aggressively?
The campaign formed part of Meta’s effort to build Meta Superintelligence Labs and compete more directly in advanced AI. Zuckerberg reportedly took a hands-on role in recruiting senior researchers, sometimes contacting potential hires directly.
Meta was competing with OpenAI, Google, Anthropic and well-funded startups for a relatively small group of people with experience in:
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- Training large AI models
- Distributed computing and AI infrastructure
- Data pipelines and inference systems
- Post-training and reinforcement learning
- Research leadership and model development
Hiring one senior researcher does not create a successful AI model by itself. But experienced technical leaders can influence research direction, recruit additional staff and help build the systems required to train and deploy frontier models. That makes individual talent strategically valuable even when the surrounding team and infrastructure matter just as much.
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The episode also illustrates a broader shift in the AI labor market: companies are competing not only for individual employees but sometimes for clusters of colleagues who already know how to work together.
What the original headline gets wrong
The viral framing—“AI Researcher Declines $1 Billion Offer From Mark Zuckerberg”—compresses several uncertain claims into one definitive sentence.
- It was not necessarily a personal offer from Zuckerberg. The reported employer was Meta, although Zuckerberg was involved in recruiting.
- The recipient was initially unnamed. Later reports identified Tulloch as the likely recipient.
- The $1 billion was a potential multiyear package value. It was not documented as cash paid upfront.
- Meta disputed the precise figures. The company acknowledged making offers but challenged the reported details.
- The rejection was temporary, according to later reporting. Tulloch subsequently joined Meta.
What remains unverified?
Several important details have not been publicly established:
- The exact identity of the recipient in the original July report, beyond later reports identifying Tulloch
- The signed offer’s full terms and guaranteed value
- The split between salary, bonuses, stock and performance awards
- Whether the original package was exactly $1 billion or more
- Whether the reported $1.5 billion figure referred to the same offer
- Whether Tulloch’s later Meta compensation was connected to the earlier proposal
The confirmed core of the story is narrower but still significant: Meta mounted an aggressive campaign to recruit Thinking Machines employees, reported compensation packages reached extraordinary potential values, Meta disputed the most sensational figures, and a researcher later associated with the largest offer eventually joined the company.
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