The company that presents: $20 billion to keep the founder in California

Mark Zuckerberg considered leaving California due to a proposed one-time 5% tax on billionaires. Meta formulated an arrangement that would allow him liquidity of approximately $20 billion through new non-voting shares, in exchange for a commitment to remain in the state.

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Meta, considered leaving California following a proposal to impose a one-time 5% tax on the wealth of billionaires in the state (Proposition 40). This emerges from a report Meta filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Following negotiations with a special committee of the board, an agreement was signed on September 14 under which Zuckerberg would commit to remaining a resident of California, or wherever the company's headquarters is located, for eight years. As part of the arrangement, Meta will issue in January 2027 a new class of Class C shares without voting rights, as part of a 1:2 stock split. Zuckerberg will be able to immediately sell 20% of the new shares allocated to him, worth approximately $20 billion, to finance potential tax liability without selling shares with voting power. Meta estimates it will need hundreds of billions of dollars to fund its growth plans in the field of artificial intelligence, and the new shares are intended to also help finance acquisitions and employee compensation while maintaining Zuckerberg's control.