Zuckerberg will sell 41.35 million 'B' shares in the company, worth about $2.3 billion, for tax purposes, a filing with US stock market regulators said December 19, 2013. These shares will allow Zuckerberg to retain power over Facebook because each has 10 voting rights. Zuckerberg will control about 62.8 percent of voting power wielded by Facebook shareholders, down from 65.2 percent. Facebook's initial public offering was so important to the state government's tax collections that it had to lower its budget projections by more than $600 million because of the company's weak IPO. Facebook's stock has surged over the last year, as the company overcame early criticism that it was slow to catch on to the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets. Contact Brandon Bailey at 408-920-5022; follow him at Twitter.com/BrandonBailey
– It may be true that people are a bit more generous around the holidays, but Mark Zuckerberg is taking that to a whole new level. Facebook's founder is once again making a hefty donation to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation: a block of Facebook stock worth $1 billion. He gave the foundation roughly the same amount of stock last year, but it was worth only half as much at the time. It's "by far the largest gift in our history," the foundation's CEO told the San Jose Mercury News, without providing any specifics on how the donation will be used. But it won't be the only stock to soon escape Zuckerberg's hands. CNBC reports he's selling off 41.4 million Facebook shares worth $2.3 billion ... to pay his taxes. Last year Zuckerberg's tax bill rang in at $1 billion, but this year's tab could be closer to $2 billion, an astounding sum considering that the top 400 earners in 2009 paid a total of $16 billion. Still, even after the tax man takes his due, Zuckerberg will have plenty of cash left to roll around in. He'll still have 444.2 million Facebook shares, worth around $24 billion, which give him about 62.8% of the voting power of Facebook shareholders, down from 65.2% before the sale and donation.