system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why would wealthy CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg give themselves a $1 salary?
gpt
So first to clear up the "salary" concept: at the executive level, the salary is often much less than the other compensation--Zuckerberg owns a lot of shares in Facebook, and probably receives either direct profit from that, or by selling them, or receives stock options, etc. as executive. When you hear about the $10 million payout that execs get, it's usually like $2 million salary, $3 million in shares, $5 million in stock options, or something similar. So salary does not actually dictate how much someone earns (see Zuckerberg's net wealth). So now the question is, why would he specifically choose $1 to be his salary?

The number 1 reason is media attention: "Zuckerberg compensated entirely by stock options" is a lot less zingy (and doesn't make him look as good) compared to "Zuckerberg earns $1 salary as Facebook CEO!". It makes it sound like he's doing it just for the company or something altruistic (despite the fact that he receives massive amounts of money outside of the salary system). 

There may be some minor bookkeeping reasons for it (like it makes it easier to do your taxes if you have at least some declared salary) or helps him get the right tax break, but for that, it probably doesn't matter if his salary is $1 or $1000, as long as it's very low. That particular number is entirely for media.