Now Facebook’s IPO is filed, soon anybody will be able to buy a piece of a Facebook. But going public won’t stop Zuckerberg having control — especially given that he buys out the voting rights of current shareholders, $US100 at a time.
According to the New York Times, Zuckerberg owns 28.4 per cent of all Class B Facebook shares. But through a string of agreements, he actually has voting rights over at least 57.1 per cent of Class B shares. That’s only likely to increase when Class B shareholders decide to sell their stakes.
How does he manage that? The New York Times reports that he offers shareholders about $US100, in cash, per share in exchange for voting rights. This finding come out of updated IPO documents that were released yesterday. [New York Times]