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Mark Zuckerberg sells 30.2 million shares of $FB common stock at $37.58

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Re: Mark Zuckerberg sells 30.2 million shares of $FB common stock at $37.58

#152
post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even less of news when he has to make this type of sale to pay taxes. What did he do so he owes taxes? Exercising in-the-money options is taxable. Receiving stock grants is a taxable event. Owning stock (or options) in a company that goes public is not a taxable event. Note that he got to sell (some?) now. Ordinary employees are still in lockout.

In effect, Zuckerberg just took an enormous salary in the form of exercising options. He has to pay tax on that income. Let's say he exercised options that earned him $5BB. (I don't know what the exact amount was. It was in the billions, no doubt.) So let's say maybe he owes $2BB in taxes. As for the rest of his shares and what they are "worth", those are going to fluctuate in value, based on the company's performanc…

Why use BB to represent billion, as opposed to one B? Seems unnecessary.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg sells 30.2 million shares of $FB common stock at $37.58

#153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Arguably, that's the whole point in owning stock in the company you own, control, and oversee. You can help make it go up and it's in your complete interest to help it become successful. You have no such control or incentive with other companies.

When you've got hundreds of millions of shares, you can sell tens of millions without losing ownership. At the same time you also insulate yourself from the risk of you or somebody who works for you fucking everything up.

Not just that but also macro variables that affect the performance of the equity markets as a whole... He is being prudent in diversifying a fraction of his exposure away not just of FB, but also from the asset class and perhaps even the currency / country.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg sells 30.2 million shares of $FB common stock at $37.58

#154
In my opinion, Mark Zuckerberg's decision is a prudent and rational one. He is diversifying a heck of a lot of exposure away from a stock that is now at the mercy of the public equity markets. Besides, in relative terms, he is still retaining the vast majority of his wealth tied to Facebook stock.

His performance as a CEO is essential to ensuring solid performance for the company, but the stock price - like every other public share - is now at the mercy of macro variables that affect the performance of the equity markets as a whole...

Mark Zuckerberg is being prudent in diversifying a fraction of his exposure away not just from FB, but also from the asset class and perhaps even the currency / country.

C'mon, is anyone here willing to admit that they would not cash-out a small fraction of $18 bn tied to a single stock if you had the ability to do so??

Re: Mark Zuckerberg sells 30.2 million shares of $FB common stock at $37.58

#155
post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even less of news when he has to make this type of sale to pay taxes. What did he do so he owes taxes? Exercising in-the-money options is taxable. Receiving stock grants is a taxable event. Owning stock (or options) in a company that goes public is not a taxable event. Note that he got to sell (some?) now. Ordinary employees are still in lockout.

In effect, Zuckerberg just took an enormous salary in the form of exercising options. He has to pay tax on that income. Let's say he exercised options that earned him $5BB. (I don't know what the exact amount was. It was in the billions, no doubt.) So let's say maybe he owes $2BB in taxes. As for the rest of his shares and what they are "worth", those are going to fluctuate in value, based on the company's performanc…

He's worth about 26 billion, I'm pretty sure that even if he cashes out 5 billion that is still plenty of incentive to deliver. He's waited 8 years, I don't consider that a "rush" to cash out.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg sells 30.2 million shares of $FB common stock at $37.58

#156
post #44

Ummm does anyone else think that maybe Mark Zuckerberg is now going to be filling the Steve Jobs shaped hole in the worlds tech publications?

I'm going to say no. I really don't see Facebook being around in 30 years. I'd be surprised if they're not marginalised in 10 years. And other than Facebook, I'm not sure what Zuckerberg has to offer the world. If you want to know why: It's because I personally believe the future of social networks is to niche, with disparate social networks connected via a Distributed Social Networking Protocol. Your social network…

I've been hoping for such a platform to emerge - it would be better than having a single platform that everyone uses. People could switch between SN providers (like email providers) easily, with migration capabilities offered via APIs, and then there would be room for SNs to compete for fairly and for smaller, better players to emerge more easily.

Please make it happen, someone. No doubt a lot of people dislike being locked into long-term contracts with service providers, be they cellphone, cable, email or social networking services.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg sells 30.2 million shares of $FB common stock at $37.58

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In effect, Zuckerberg just took an enormous salary in the form of exercising options. He has to pay tax on that income. Let's say he exercised options that earned him $5BB. (I don't know what the exact amount was. It was in the billions, no doubt.) So let's say maybe he owes $2BB in taxes. As for the rest of his shares and what they are "worth", those are going to fluctuate in value, based on the company's performanc…

He's worth about 26 billion, I'm pretty sure that even if he cashes out 5 billion that is still plenty of incentive to deliver. He's waited 8 years, I don't consider that a "rush" to cash out.

One might argue the eight years of waiting was simply to get to this point, when income had reached its peak ($1BB), and where FB could IPO and certain parties could extract maximum profit. The "rush" is cashing out just as the company opens its books to the public.

If FB revenues continue to go up, then I'm wrong. But unless Facebook "finds" a novel business model I do not see revenue continuing to climb; I believe we are at the peak, and now begins the descent. If he waited eight years, then why not wait a little longer? I believe there is a reason now was the time. Time will tell.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg sells 30.2 million shares of $FB common stock at $37.58

#158
post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Even less of news when he has to make this type of sale to pay taxes. What did he do so he owes taxes? Exercising in-the-money options is taxable. Receiving stock grants is a taxable event. Owning stock (or options) in a company that goes public is not a taxable event. Note that he got to sell (some?) now. Ordinary employees are still in lockout.

In effect, Zuckerberg just took an enormous salary in the form of exercising options. He has to pay tax on that income. Let's say he exercised options that earned him $5BB. (I don't know what the exact amount was. It was in the billions, no doubt.) So let's say maybe he owes $2BB in taxes. As for the rest of his shares and what they are "worth", those are going to fluctuate in value, based on the company's performanc…

Nothing wrong with diversifying just a tad.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg sells 30.2 million shares of $FB common stock at $37.58

#159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In effect, Zuckerberg just took an enormous salary in the form of exercising options. He has to pay tax on that income. Let's say he exercised options that earned him $5BB. (I don't know what the exact amount was. It was in the billions, no doubt.) So let's say maybe he owes $2BB in taxes. As for the rest of his shares and what they are "worth", those are going to fluctuate in value, based on the company's performanc…

Why use BB to represent billion, as opposed to one B? Seems unnecessary.

It's standard English.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg sells 30.2 million shares of $FB common stock at $37.58

#160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In effect, Zuckerberg just took an enormous salary in the form of exercising options. He has to pay tax on that income. Let's say he exercised options that earned him $5BB. (I don't know what the exact amount was. It was in the billions, no doubt.) So let's say maybe he owes $2BB in taxes. As for the rest of his shares and what they are "worth", those are going to fluctuate in value, based on the company's performanc…

Nothing wrong with diversifying just a tad.

I don't think the issue is his personal financial planning.
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