Facebook (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, may be among the richest people on the planet but (at least so far) they've stayed away from buying mega yachts, desert islands and other trappings of the ultra rich.
According
to a Facebook filing this week, Zuckerberg pulled the trigger on some 60
million shares worth of options at the end of last year, netting a profit of
about $3.3 billion. He immediately turned around and sold more than 41 million
shares while turning over 18 million, worth almost $1 billion at the time, to
his favorite charity, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
Despite
the occasional wild speculation — $90 million for the penthouse of towering New
York City skyscraper One57, anyone? — the Zuckerbergs haven’t gone in for much
conspicuous consumption.
Facebook
charters a jet for the Zuck and he’s not known to have purchased a big boat,
fancy cars or a Damien Hirst formaldehyde preserved shark. Zuckerberg, along
with other celebrities including Martha Stewart and private equity titan Henry
Kravis, reportedly attended the gigantic modern art showcase Art Basel in Miami
in December. Works from artists ranging from Pablo Picasso to Andy Warhol as
well as Mr. Hirst attracted some 75,000 visitors but there were no reports that
Zuck was a buyer.
The
Zuckerbergs own two pieces of property in the Bay area. They paid $7 million in
2011 for a beautiful 5,000-square-foot house in the Crescent Park neighborhood
of Palo Alto, the same area where Steve Jobs once lived.
The
couple did buy four surrounding properties for another $30 million over the
next two years, but it wasn’t with the idea of building a huge compound, or
even displacing their current neighbors a bit. Rather, the move reportedly was
made to thwart a developer who wanted to buy some of the next door houses as
tear downs, pitching a mega manse with Zuck’s proximity as a potential perk.
After buying the surrounding homes, Zuckerberg rented them back to the
residents.
The
couple also paid $10 million for a San Francisco house in the Noe Valley
neighborhood. It’s undergoing a massive renovation.
And
that $90 million penthouse towering 75 floors above Central Park? Seems it went
to a group of investors led by hedge fund manager Bill Ackman.
culled from Yahoo.com
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