Facebook cofounder Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly making big bets on both coasts of the US but his latest moves suggest the Meta CEO may be preparing to say goodbye to California for good. According to a recent report, Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, pledged $50 million to Sacramento State University to build state-of-the-art STEM labs and an AI center. “These investments will help strengthen our communities and support the next generation of leaders and innovators,” said Zuckerberg, who owns a compound of 11 properties in Palo Alto’s Crescent Park neighborhood, valued at more than $110 million.According to Wall Street Journal, weeks later after the donation, Zuckerberg purchased a waterfront mansion on Indian Creek — a man-made island in Miami’s Biscayne Bay often called “Billionaires Bunker.” The property is said to be a newly-completed estate and is expected to fetch between $150 million and $200 million.
Tech billionaires leaving California
Zuckerberg isn’t alone who is leaving the US state. A wave of California tech titans has been quietly relocating to South Florida in recent months. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have both made major purchases in the Miami area, reports said.Page picked up multiple properties in Coconut Grove for roughly $188 million, while Brin is reportedly in talks for a $50 million home on Biscayne Bay. Further, Venture capitalist Peter Thiel made his Florida move official by opening a Miami office for his investment firm on New Year’s Eve.All the tech leaders are moving to Florida due to California’s proposed Billionaire Tax Act – a ballot measure under which the state would impose a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of anyone worth over $1 billion. If it qualifies for the November ballot and passes, it would retroactively apply to anyone who was a California resident as of January 1, 2026.For Zuckerberg, whose net worth hovers around $240 billion according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, that’s a potential tax bill north of $10 billion. Notably, Zuckerberg hasn’t made any public statements about the billionaires’ tax.
