Facebook can fire CEO Zuckerberg 8216;at will8217;

Mark Zuckerberg's contract leaves him open to fire-at-will policy; has similar exit rights.

Facebook can terminate services of its chief Mark Zuckerberg at any time for any reason,or even without a reason,but the social networking giant8217;s founder and CEO also enjoys similar exit rights.

As per Facebook8217;s employment agreement with Zuckerberg,his tenure at the social networking giant would be on an 8216;at will8217; basis,meaning his job can be terminated 8220;at any time for any reason or no reason8221;,either by him or by the company.

The company has disclosed Zuckerberg8217;s employment agreement,revised late last month,as part of an amended registration document for its upcoming IPO Initial Public Offer filed with the US market regulator Securities and Exchange Commission SEC.

The global leader in social networking space is planning for a 5 billion dollar IPO,which could push Zuckerberg and a few others into the league of billionaires,based on the valuation of their shareholding in the company.

While the job duties,title,compensation and benefits,as well as the company8217;s personnel policies and procedures,might change from time to time,the 8216;at will8217; nature of Zuckerberg8217;s employment can be changed only after a written agreement approved by the Facebook board.

The employment agreement of Facebook8217;s Chief Operating Officer COO Sheryl Sandberg also has an 8216;at-will8217; clause.

Sandberg8217;s agreement also provides for reimbursement of her business expenses by Facebook,although that of Zuckerberg has no such clause.

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One of the clauses also bars Zuckerberg from creating a rival to Facebook.

As per the agreement,Zuckerberg cannot 8220;assist any person or entity in competing with the company,in preparing to compete with the company or in hiring any employees or consultants of the company.8221;

Similar clauses apply to Chief Operating Officer COO Sheryl Sandberg,Chief Financial Officer CFO David Ebersman and Vice President Engineering Mike Schroepfer,for the period these people are rendering their services to Facebook.

The agreements are silent on whether these people,including Zuckerberg,can help create a rival to Facebook after leaving the company.

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The company said that Zuckerberg,as President and CEO,would get 500,000 of base salary and up to 45 per cent of this amount as bonus every year.

Sandberg and Ebersman would get an annual base salary of 300,000 each,while the same for Schroepfer would be 275,000. All the three executives would be entitled for a bonus payment of up to 45 per cent of their base earnings.

The collective base salary and bonus of the four executives stand at 1.99 million about Rs 10 crore.