MENLO PARK, Calif. — Meta has found a way to keep Mark Zuckerberg living in California, which makes him the first person in the state this year whose employer covered the cost of staying.
The company disclosed in an SEC filing this week that Zuckerberg told a special committee of its board he was "evaluating relocating his primary residence outside California" if voters pass Proposition 40 on Nov. 3. Prop 40 is a one-time 5% tax on the state's billionaires.
Zuckerberg is worth about $240 billion, according to Reuters, citing Forbes. Five percent of that is roughly $12 billion. That is not a tax bill. That is a mid-sized country's defense budget with a stamp on it.
So the board did what any caring employer would do. It invented a new class of stock.
Under the plan, Meta will issue non-voting Class C shares, one for every existing share, effective January 2027. Zuckerberg can immediately sell 20% of his new Class C shares, about 10% of his total economic stake, without losing an ounce of voting control. Another 2.5% unlocks every quarter for 32 quarters, as long as he stays in a full-time leadership role.
In exchange, he committed to remain a resident of California for eight years. Or, per the filing, "any other jurisdiction in which the Company maintains its corporate headquarters."
Let's run the numbers on that promise. He agreed to live wherever his own company lives. His own company is run by him. That is not a commitment. That is a man promising to stay in the same room as his shadow.
The filing calls the possible tax "a significant, multi-billion dollar tax payment." Meta's special committee said keeping him close to Meta Superintelligence Labs was "critically important." The committee also recalled how hard the COVID-19 pandemic was, when Zuckerberg could not be physically present with management.
Most Californians also had a hard pandemic. Nobody created a new share class for them. They got a $1,200 stimulus check and a rent bill that didn't read the news.
Here is the ledger for an ordinary resident who wants to stay in California. Rent: up. Gas: up. Employer retention package: a pizza party, possibly cancelled.
Here is the ledger for Zuckerberg. Employer retention package: the right to sell up to half his economic stake over eight years while keeping total control. Pizza party: presumably catered.
To be fair to the board, the tax may never pass. Analysts told Reuters Prop 40 is far from certain. California has as many as 250 billionaires worth upwards of $2 trillion, and opponents of the measure include Sergey Brin and DoorDash CEO Tony Xu. Xu, for the record, also sits on Meta's special committee. That is the committee that decided Zuckerberg deserved help with a tax Xu opposes. Efficient.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has said he wouldn't mind paying it. Accountants across the state have asked to see his work.
And so the most powerful man in social media now has the one thing no other Californian can get: a reason to stay that pays more than it costs.
The rest of the state is still evaluating relocating its primary residence. They just don't get a filing. They get a moving-truck quote to Texas, the only number in this story that came with no stock attached.
This article is satire. The Demorat is a parody news site; real facts are drawn from the linked sources, and jokes, invented scenes, and fictional characters are not real.
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