Zuckerberg agrees to stay in California for eight years, Meta filing says

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has agreed to keep living in Silicon Valley for eight years, according to a company regulatory filing released on a Wednesday. Wired reports that this potentially exposes him to billions of dollars in one-time taxes if California voters approve a contentious ballot measure next month.

The 109-page filing says that at a dinner with Meta board members on September 9, Zuckerberg told them he was considering leaving California because of the measure, known as Proposition 40, and that he planned to list his Palo Alto home for sale four days later. The proposal calls for a one-time 5 percent tax on stock and other assets held by billionaires in the state as of January 2026. Wired notes it could be subject to lawsuits even if voters approve it.

Wired adds context on how wealthy people handle taxes now: many, Zuckerberg included, avoid large tax payments by borrowing against their shares and taking low salaries, which is $1 a year in the Meta CEO's case. The Wall Street Journal reported at the time that Zuckerberg bought a home in Florida in February.

His possible cross-country move worried a special committee of the board, whose members included attorney Robert Kimmitt, venture capitalist Charlie Songhurst and DoorDash CEO Tony Xu. The filing says the committee "was mindful about the difficulties the company faced during the COVID-19 pandemic when Zuckerberg could not be physically present with the company's management team and did not want the company to face similar challenges going forward."

Within days of the dinner, the committee and Zuckerberg reached an agreement that links his ability to sell special company shares to his continued residence in California. It was finalized a week before the Wednesday announcement. Meta plans to create a new class of shares with no voting power. Wired says selling them could help raise funds for Meta's costly AI data center investments without diluting Zuckerberg's existing voting control.

All existing shareholders will receive the new nonvoting shares automatically, in proportion to what they already hold. Under what Meta calls a "Founder Alignment Agreement", Zuckerberg can sell 20 percent of those new shares to help pay any taxes he may owe. The remaining 80 percent can be sold in chunks over the next eight years, as long as he stays in California. Selling them early would require him to offload some of his voting shares, unless there are "material unforeseen circumstances that would render it prudent or advisable for Zuckerberg to reside elsewhere."

There is a loophole of sorts. The agreement only requires Zuckerberg to remain wherever Meta has its headquarters, so he and the company could move together to another state. Wired notes that a number of California companies have left for Texas, Nevada and other states in recent years, and that Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page are among a handful of billionaires widely believed to have left California over the potential tax. But with much of the leading AI development happening in Silicon Valley, leaving Menlo Park could be hard for the board to accept. The filing states: "The goal is to keep Zuckerberg continuing to lead the company from California and in close proximity to Meta Superintelligence Labs," which Wired describes as the unit behind Meta's recent Muse AI models.

Wired closes with a twist: the exercise may have been for nothing. Recent polling in California suggests that, with about $129 million spent campaigning against Prop 40, it will fail to get enough votes.

Key facts

Per a Meta regulatory filing, Zuckerberg agreed to keep living in Silicon Valley for eight years, ahead of next month's California vote on Proposition 40.
Prop 40 would impose a one-time 5 percent tax on stock and other assets held by billionaires in the state as of January 2026.
Under the "Founder Alignment Agreement", Zuckerberg can sell 20 percent of Meta's new nonvoting shares to help pay taxes; the other 80 percent can be sold in chunks over eight years while he stays in California.
The agreement only requires him to stay where Meta is headquartered, so he and the company could move together to another state.
Wired says recent polling suggests Prop 40 will fail, with about $129 million spent campaigning against it.

Why it matters

The filing shows how far a tax ballot measure reached into the governance of one of the largest tech companies. Zuckerberg told the board on September 9 that he was considering leaving California because of Prop 40 and planned to list his Palo Alto home four days later. The board responded by tying his share sales to where he lives. The new nonvoting shares could also help fund Meta's expensive AI data center spending without diluting his voting control, according to Wired. The filing says the aim is to keep him leading the company from California and close to Meta Superintelligence Labs.

Who it affects

Zuckerberg is directly affected: his ability to sell the 80 percent of new shares outside the tax-payment portion depends on his residence. All existing Meta shareholders will receive the new nonvoting shares automatically, in proportion to their holdings. The board's special committee (Robert Kimmitt, Charlie Songhurst, Tony Xu) negotiated the deal. California voters decide on Prop 40 next month, and the state's wealthiest residents face the one-time 5 percent tax if it passes.

How to use it

This is a news item rather than a product or tool, so there is nothing to apply directly. The practical things to watch are the California vote on Prop 40 next month and how Meta sets up the new nonvoting share class, which the source says it plans to create.

How solid is it

The core facts come from a 109-page Meta regulatory filing, which Wired quotes directly, so the agreement terms, the September 9 dinner and the committee's reasoning are company-stated. Other material is Wired's own reporting or attribution: the link to AI data center funding, the polling claim, and the statement that Brin and Page are "widely believed" to have left California. The Florida home purchase is attributed to The Wall Street Journal. The article does not give polling numbers, who ran the poll, or who spent the $129 million.

Risks and caveats

The agreement does not guarantee Zuckerberg stays in California: it only requires him to remain wherever Meta is headquartered, so the company could move with him. Early sales of the restricted shares are possible if he offloads some voting shares, and the filing allows an exception for material unforeseen circumstances. Prop 40 could face lawsuits even if voters pass it, and polling suggests it may not pass at all. The tax exposure is described only as "billions of dollars", with no specific figure for Zuckerberg.

“The goal is to keep Zuckerberg continuing to lead the company from California and in close proximity to Meta Superintelligence Labs”

— Meta regulatory filing, as quoted by Wired