Meta strikes deal to stop Mark Zuckerberg leaving California over billionaire tax
The Meta boss had said he would exit the state over a wealth tax that has not yet come into force.
Meta reaches agreement to keep Mark Zuckerberg from leaving California over billionaire tax
Meta has struck a deal with Mark Zuckerberg to prevent the Facebook co-founder from moving out of California after he threatened to leave the state because of a proposed tax on billionaires.
Under the arrangement, Zuckerberg — reportedly among the world’s wealthiest people — can sell Meta shares without giving up control of the California-based company if he has to cover a substantial tax bill.
The proposal, which would introduce a one-time 5% tax on state residents whose net worth exceeds $1bn (£750m), has not yet been approved. Californians are due to vote on 3 November.
Even so, Zuckerberg reached an agreement with a special committee at Meta after negotiations described as "robust", and "at several points, contentious".
California is home to most of the US technology giants, and about 225 billionaires live in the state, according to the Americans for Tax Fairness campaign group.
Zuckerberg — whose fortune is put at $226bn by Forbes' billionaires tracker — had told Meta's board that he intended to stay with the company for "the foreseeable future".
But he also said he was considering moving his main residence out of California and that, if he put his home up for sale, it "would be public and inevitably noted and commented upon by company employees".
He told the board that this "would raise questions for management of the company going forward".
A special committee at Meta concluded it was "critically important" to keep Zuckerberg in a leadership position and in California so he could run the company from its headquarters "during this era of unprecedented challenge and competition in our industry".
Tech firms in the US and around the world are pouring billions of dollars into artificial intelligence and the infrastructure supporting it.
Meta said the share arrangement was suitable to ensure Zuckerberg "remains working closely" with the company's AI at its headquarters.
It added that his "talent and leadership have been crucial to our growth, strategy, and stability since our inception, and the special committee wants that to continue".