News alert: Meta paid Zuckerberg to stay in California
Thursday, October 22, 2026
Meta entered into an agreement with CEO Mark Zuckerberg committing him to remain a California resident for eight years, after he told the board he was considering leaving the state over a proposed wealth tax that could cost him billions. In exchange, Meta’s board approved a one-time dividend of one share of non-voting Class C stock for each existing share — a structure that lets Zuckerberg sell some shares to cover any tax bill without losing his majority voting control. California’s Proposition 40, which would impose a 5% annual levy on billionaires’ assets, is on the Nov. 3 ballot.
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Here's what you need to know
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Anthropic posted an $80.7 billion loss for the first half of 2026. Most of that came from a $72 billion accounting charge, not from money the company actually spent. Some investors now want to value the AI company at about $1.5 trillion when it goes public, down from as much as $2 trillion.
Meta must pay New Mexico $25 billion over Cambridge Analytica. A jury found that Facebook's parent misled residents more than 43 million times about how it collected and protected their data. The judge first calculated a $219.5 billion penalty before reducing it to the final amount.
Musk reportedly ordered the Starlink slowdown that hurt Ukraine. Some of Ukraine's drones stopped working, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his military couldn't intercept some Russian attacks. Musk and President Donald Trump had both denied any involvement before the report.
France's borrowing costs topped 5% for the first time since 2002. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu is struggling to pass about $48 billion in spending cuts without a majority in parliament. If Moody's cuts France's credit rating on Friday, the government will have to pay even more to borrow.
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