Like or dislike: Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg could be bound for a career in politics
Mark Zuckerberg may intend to pursue government service while retaining control of Facebook, according to recently unsealed court filings in a case pitting the CEO against minority investors.
The class-action lawsuit was first filed in late April, after Zuckerberg proposed a corporate shake-up that would dilute the voting power of shareholders – giving him “eternal control” of the company, in the words of the shareholders’ lawyers.
Text messages excerpted in the court documents reveal that Zuckerberg and two board members discussed the CEO’s possible government service, and argued about how to present it to shareholders.
Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, one of the company’s most prominent investors, texted Zuckerberg in March to say that the “biggest issue” of the corporate proposal was “how to define the gov’t service thing without freaking out shareholders that you are losing commitment”.
A few weeks later, as Andreessen spoke with two other members of a special committee, the investor continued texting with Zuckerberg about negotiations.
“I think the biggest remaining issue is still around the government service,” Andreessen wrote. He added that another of the committee members, former White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles, was “massively uncomfortable” with Zuckerberg “going off on leave with no involvement by the board and retaining control”.
“He’s worried that it’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back on the optics of good governance,” Andreesen went on about Erskine. “He’s worried it’s the thing people will point to on announcement and say ‘what the f**k are you guys doing agreeing to this’ . Particularly since he thinks gov’t service would require you to give up control of FB anyway and it’s a moot point.
“My counter argument is that because it’s likely a moot point let’s just give on it and it will probably never matter.”
In mid-April, the special committee recommended that Facebook’s board approve the new system, and according to the court documents Andreessen texted Zuckerberg: “the cat’s in the bag and the bag’s in the river”. Zuckerberg replied: “does that mean the cat’s dead?”
Andreessen answered: “mission accomplished”, adding a smiley face. The board approved the plan, as did shareholders, with Zuckerberg the controlling voter among them. According to the proposal as it was described in a regulatory filing, Zuckerberg would be able to take a two-year leave from Facebook to serve “in a government position or office” without losing control of the company.
Minority Facebook investors sued Zuckerberg in late April and early May, alleging that the CEO and Andreessen unfairly meddled in the board’s decision. The plan to restructure Facebook’s stock system was paused by the court until the lawsuit’s resolution.
