Billionaire Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — whose compound of homes in Palo Alto has become a lightning rod for critics — is in the process of moving to south Florida, the Wall Street Journal reports.
He’s the latest billionaire to flee from California to avoid a possible one-time 5% “billionaires tax” for any individual worth at least $1 billion dollars retroactive to Jan. 1, 2026. Others to leave include Google co-founders Larry Page of Palo Alto and Sergey Brin of Los Altos Hills, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison formerly of Woodside, and PayPal/Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel, previously a resident of Hollywood Hills.
Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, are buying a nearly completed mansion on Indian Creek Island, a 300-acre, man-made islet near Miami with 41 lots, 84 residents and a 13 member police force, the Journal reports.
The newspaper says Zuckerberg is in the process of buying the home listed for $200 million, but the deal hasn’t closed. His neighbors will include Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, financier Carl Icahn and Tom Brady.
The 27,669-square-foot limestone mansion will have nine bedrooms, a gym, a hair salon, a massage room, a 1,500-gallon aquarium and a library with a secret passageway.
Zuckerberg’s representatives haven’t commented on the transaction.
It doesn’t appear as if Zuckerberg is selling his 11 homes in Palo Alto’s Crescent Park neighborhood, which he has grouped together to form a compound.
Zuckerberg has spent more than $110 million to buy 11 houses in the neighborhood, offering owners as much as $14.5 million, double or triple what the houses are worth. His near-constant construction at the compound has created frustration with his neighbors due to the noise, loss of parking and a reduction of privacy.
In response to the complaints, Palo Alto Councilmen Greer Stone and Keith Rechdahl proposed in December that the city regulate compounds, by limiting how long construction can take place and outlawing the buying of a home in order to leave it empty. No regulations regarding compounds have gone to council yet.
Meanwhile, SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West is circulating petitions to put the tax on the November ballot. The estimated $100 billion produced by the tax would replace funds hospitals were getting before the federal government tightened enforcement of eligibility requirements for subsidized health insurance.
The Franchise Tax Board takes an aggressive posture toward wealthy individuals who claim they are no longer California residents. Given that Zuckerberg is the CEO of Meta, it will be difficult for him to claim he no longer lives here. Larry Ellison has claimed Hawaii residency for several years but has been Chairman and not CEO during this time.
So, you benefit greatly from previous generations’ paid taxes that built an ecosystem where you can succeed, become very rich and reach the top. When it’s your turn to send the elevator down, you simply lock it next to you on the top floor.
Freedom?
Think not.
Oh, and ”great fanfare” donations in, comparatively, tiny amounts really do not count.
It’ll be interesting to see if Zuckerberg will no longer be a taxpayer in California and how many other billionaires will leave the state whether or not this stupid proposition passes. SEIU will do anything to get their hands on other people’s money.
Perhaps as they leave, they could donate their Palo Alto compound to the city who could use it as a park. Or part as a park and part to resell some of the houses for city income to support citizen services.
So the “free stuff” voters want to eat the rich. Like a food fight at a cannibal’s banquet, it will be interesting who the last cannibal standing will be.
Zuckerberg to become a Florida man. I cannot tell you appropriate that is.
Zuck probably wants to be closer to Mar A Lago to kiss the ring more frequently.
Be sure to revoke his California Homeowners’ Property Tax Exemption asap.
Please leave
It’s always amusing to me that those who have so much money they will never be able to spend it all before they bite the dirt shun the environments that fed their wealth. Rather than support a worthy cause, they’re so focused on their game of “mine’s bigger than yours” that they miss the larger picture of history and how they’ll be remembered –
The California the billionaires are leaving is not the same California that fed their wealth. A Marxist utopia is not a “worthy cause”, it is an impoverished Orwellian hellscape ruled by self-righteous midwits and murderous con artists.
“an impoverished Orwellian hellscape”??? You really need to turn off Fox and get out more. I can’t tell you how many people were here for the Super Bowl from red states who were surprised that the city of SF was nothing like the way it’s constantly portrayed to them.
Remember when the Chinese leader came to town, and they cleaned up the place? Then, as soin as he left, all the zombies and human waste returned. This is the same thing, Ben. Tell me you’re not that stupid.
Not sure what made you think of San Francisco when you read the phrase “…an impoverished Orwellian hellscape…”. I didn’t even mention San Francisco in my post.
According to Garry Tan, the leader of Y Combinator, the problem is that the wealth tax proposal assesses value based on voting power rather than economic ownership, meaning Mark Zuckerberg would be taxed as if he owned 54% of Meta instead of his actual 13% stake. This mechanism would hyper-inflate his taxable wealth to nearly $1 trillion, generating a five-year tax bill of roughly $175 billion that would mathematically force him to liquidate his shares (current net worth ~$240B) and lose control of the company.
People live where they want to live and can afford to live. Most people couldn’t care less where other people live. I’ll never understand the mindset of those who get so worked up about someone else’s zip code. Who cares?
Billionaires know Newsom’s tax shakedown won’t benefit the people. All proceeds go to the governor’s open-border buddies.
Oh please please please leave!
While adding yet another home to your obscene collection doesn’t mean we’ll see the last of you, it will provide temporary relief from your toxic vibes.
Don’t let the door hit you on your way out.
How much money is too much for these oligarchs? As we know they already pay a much smaller % of their income in taxes than the middle class via tax shelters and tax avoidance strategies. I am not a supporter of the wealth tax as proposed but I would like to see tax reform that requires the ultra-wealthy to pay their fair share.
Palo Alto citizen
Palo Alto citizen – all this is for tax tax tax – legal legal legal
99 % of the time – zuck will from his Palo Alto – home
1 airplane + truck = go anywhere
2 internet + cell phone + data data data center = work anywhere
$ 10 billion – dollars can buy any airplane + house + cell phone + internet + fiber internet in the world
99 % of the time – zuck will work out of his Palo Alto- home
He has three young kids. Can’t imagine there is a school or many children on an island with 84 residents. They seem very young for boarding school, and most parents want their kids to have playmates and friends. Zuck and FB execs don’t seem to care much about other people’s kids (see how FB/IG knowingly targets vulnerable young people), but I assume he has some hope for the happiness of his own.
Hope the FTB is all over this.
Great news. Good riddance. Leave soon.
just stop the loophole of borrowing against to be vested stocks, so all comps are taxed as income, Institute a maximum cumulative tax rate to force public bureaucrats to live within their means. Treat all “fees” as taxes and make all public servant benefits available to all citizens.
He is not moving to Florida. He simply bought a home. He has already 30 homes or more in various places.
people have way to much time on their hands trying to control other people that are in a different place in life. We live in America where out one side of your mouth you preach no dictatorships and on the other side of your mouth you says do as I say because I believe differently and you will be taxed and controlled to stop your free will.
This is just as concerning as any other issue that removes free will. Let’s control the construction workers hours even though they are different a block over, let’s control how many houses you buy, let’s control how much you are taxed if you are stimulating the economy. Let’s just find a reason to be mad at any given issue if it is from someone with a different political belief or a different financial status. WOW just WOW! People grow up and stop doing things to dump the economy in California by overbuilding apartment and condos and driving away the people who can actually afford to pay taxes. When there is noone left in rich Palo Alto except a bunch of torn down houses and apartments remember these rules you are trying to implement. You people caused the start of these issues.
Rod is right. In fact, IF he was leaving Palo Alto you would hear about his selling his homes. Right?
Unfortunately, Florida is not far enough away……
How come no one addresses the fact that CA doesn’t live within it’s means?