Meta has agreed to issue Mark Zuckerberg a new class of non-voting Class C shares starting in January 2027, which he could sell to help cover a potential multibillion dollar tax bill under California's proposed billionaire tax, without giving up his voting control of the company. As part of the arrangement, Zuckerberg has committed to staying in California for eight years, barring what the agreement describes as material unforeseen circumstances that would make it prudent for him to live elsewhere.
The deal lands just ahead of a November 3 vote on California's Proposition 40, which would impose a one time 5% tax on the roughly 250 billionaires living in the state if it passes. Zuckerberg, the world's sixth richest person with a net worth estimated above $220 billion, would face a tax bill of more than $11 billion under the measure.
Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, pointed to the arrangement as proof that warnings about billionaires fleeing the state to avoid the tax were overstated. "Looks like billionaires will stay and figure out a way to pay the tax," Khanna wrote on X.