Mark Zuckerberg threatened to dump $110M California home over billionaire tax, Meta reveals in filing
He’s not Zucking around.Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg held detailed negotiations with the tech giant’s board of directors about moving out of California if the state passes Prop.40, a 5% wealth tax on billionaires — which could force him to liquidate huge chunks of stock, according to a new financial filing.The social media firm made the disclosures about Zuckerberg’s threats to offload his $110 million Palo Alto compound and establish residency outside the Golden State in a 109-page Securities and Exchange Commission filing posted Wednesday, which revealed for the first time the billionaire’s concerns about how the wealth tax could rip away his control of the firm he founded.Meta wrote in the filing that over a series of talks with the board, Zuckerberg said the tax on his net worth of approximately $250 billion — which could amount to a tax bill of $12.5 billion — would force him to dump huge chunks of his stock, diluting his voting shares.
Most of Zuckerberg’s immense wealth comes from his 13% ownership stake in Meta, which includes specialized Class B shares that give him majority shareholder voting rights.“Mr.
Zuckerberg noted that he has taken only a $1 annual salary since 2013 for serving as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, and he stated that if he needed to pay any such tax by selling down his Class B common stock, the tax liability could be large enough to reduce his voting interest in the Company to approximately 53%,” the filing read.Talks over Prop.
40 gained steam in July, when Zuckerberg repeatedly raised concerns about Prop.40 with leaders such as Robert M.
Kimmitt, a lead independent director of Meta — saying the wealth tax would “impact his ability to remain resident in California and pay any tax assessed on him if it becomes law.”His attorneys sent a letter on Aug.3 to a board special committee demanding a revised comp agreement that would, in part, boost his liquidity in the event of a massive tax bill — trigge...