The Smartest Man In The Room Is Not Your Friend

Say what you will about Facebook head Mark Zuckerberg, he knows how to pick his business partners.  In fact, the number one qualification for being a business partner with the guy is apparently the ability to be such a self-centered asshole that it completely takes the spotlight off Zuckerberg himself, quietly allowing him to be an even larger schmuck in the process.

When, as Facebook expects, the 187 million stock options are cashed in this year, Facebook will get $7.5 billion in tax deductions (which will reduce the company’s federal and state taxes by $3 billion). According to Facebook, these tax deductions should exceed the company’s U.S. taxable 2012 income and result in a net operating loss (NOL) that can then be carried back to the preceding two years to offset its past taxes, resulting in a refund of up to $500 million.

Oh and that gets worse.

While Zuckerberg will pay a hefty tax bill right off the bat if he follows through on his plan to sell $5 billion in Facebook stock options, as the New York Times noted, he may then never pay a dime of taxes on the rest of his Facebook wealth. “Instead, he can simply use his stock as collateral to borrow against his tremendous wealth and avoid all tax,” the Times reported.

And even more so.

In addition, Zuckerberg’s using a totally legal accounting gimmick to transfer money to his unborn children, thus avoiding the gift tax. He also — by virtue of accepting a $1 dollar salary and purely living off his wealth — could be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, which is intended to benefit low-income Americans.

Yeah.  Let's not kid ourselves.  Friday was the day Mark Zuckerberg became the .0001%.  He's now one of the richest people on Earth.  Literally, he's #29 on the planet.  And unless you think he's going to say "Hey, I can give $3 to everyone on the planet and still have a billion left over LOL", he's not exactly your new hero.

He's your new overlord.  Might want to keep that in mins when you're all surprised at whatever "leveraging of your online information" stunt they pull next.  Because now?  Now they've got the mega-billions to back it up, stockholders to answer to, and profit margin to exploit.

It's not gonna be pretty, kids.  You want to be online?  You're going to be playing by this guy's rules, and he's already made himself a god among mortals before 30.

Unfriend.