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Zuckerberg Answers Critics of His Move To Give Away His Facebook Stock (facebook.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Mark Zuckerberg's announcement that he and his wife are giving away $45 billion worth of Facebook stock garnered a lot of praise and a fair bit of criticism. The Facebook CEO answered some of the apprehension in a post that reads in part: "By using an LLC instead of a traditional foundation, we receive no tax benefit from transferring our shares to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, but we gain flexibility to execute our mission more effectively. Just like everyone else, we will pay capital gains taxes when our shares are sold by the LLC."
Nothing any corporation does is altruistic.
#DeleteChrome
Seriously? He announced he was giving this money away in a clear attempt to generate good will for himself and/or Facebook.
He wants people to care otherwise he wouldn't announce it. If he wants to announce it though he must accept it being scrutinized.
Of course it doesn't matter if he's trying to dodge taxes, no one that uses Facebook is giving it up any time soon. He could be selling aids tainted blood and he'd still be in business.
Why are you so upset about that? Who cares.
Zuck tried to make a fool of everyone. And, judging by your response, he at least in part succeeded.
Some people still think dishonesty is a bad thing. I know a lot of people think if it's legal it should be allowed, but I personally don't like to see anyone being dishonest.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
"I want to pay more taxes because the government can spend the money better than I can"... said no one ever.
All legal. Don't hate the player, hate the game... (or so I'm told)
Fuck that--I'll sure as hell hate the player for playing the damn game.
the reason people care is that we see an endless sucking-away of OUR cash (that should be used to better ALL our lives, not just a few .1%-ers) without any use for society.
lets not forget, without society and US, he would never have gotton where he is. he owes us, as does every fucking rich asshole out there who thinks that 'his' money is 100% his and he owes nothing back to the society that enabled him.
the US infrastructure is in shambles. we have no taxes collected from rich folks or rich companies anymore; ALL the burden is placed on middle and poor folks. nothing can get done this way and nothing IS getting done. sewers are in need of upgrades, water ways, transportation, electricity, waste removal - all the things we need every day - there is no money for it because the republicans continue to allow rich folks to skirt the tax laws.
if no money comes back to 'us', then we all suffer.
I find it hard to believe you truly think that money should just get sucked into a rich person's wallet, never to benefit society again. let me guess which political party you belong go....
--
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
You know, it's comments like yours that make me think about no longer donating and no longer do the right thing. I do the right thing, no because I have to but because it is the right thing to do. I don't owe you anything - except taxes, which I pay in full, to slightly more than is dictated as dictated by law and I pay someone pretty good money to ensure that every single tax is paid.
Yet, rough guess, I probably donated between 15 and 40 times your yearly income last year and wrote very little of it off because I'm kind of lazy like that and I prefer to make anonymous donations so that I'm not plagued by folks looking to have me support their various causes by intruding on my tranquility.
I don't owe you shit. Every single penny I have was earned legally and without any ethical concerns. I've paid every single obligation, ever. I owe nothing to anyone even if you facilitated my accumulation of wealth. You have no right to it. If you didn't want to then you shouldn't have helped. We've set up society to act like this. My obligation, what I owe, is in the form of taxation and that is paid in full, on time, and rounded to the highest dollar value (for State and Federal taxes).
I give because I want to. I give because I think I'm obligated to do so. I give because I can. I don't *have* to. I just feel like I have to. I don't owe you a damned thing. I don't have nearly as much accumulated wealth as this person but they don't owe you a damned thing beyond their mandated taxes. And before you chirp about taxes, tax avoidance is legal - some might even say ethical. The contract is clear - it is taxes. I pay every single obligated cent. I owe nothing beyond that in any sense of the word. I feel like I do but I am not.
Just because you lack the means to help others does not mean that someone else is obligated to do it in your stead. You do not have a right to my property. You do not have a right to dictate what I spent my money on other than taxes and, err, illegal goods and maybe a few things that I'm skipping. But no, you don't have a right to my money just as I don't have a right to yours. You are far more wealthy than the a very sizable number of others. Start by giving away your wealth but don't think you've got a right to mine. I share because I want to, not because I'm forced to. Pray I don't alter the deal any further.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."