Mark Zuckerberg 2020? It might not be so far-fetched. The Facebook founder has made quite a few moves in the past six months that look like someone preparing a political campaign, Wired points out.
In addition to Zuckerberg's New Year's resolution to "get out and talk to more people about how they're living, working, and thinking about the future," the billionaire and former atheist has also come out as believing religion is "very important." "Given that it's accepted wisdom in American politics that someone who is not religious can never be elected president of the United States, could this be #positioning?" Wired wonders.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In June during Facebook's annual meeting, company shareholders voted to approve a restructuring of Facebook stock that would ensure Zuckerberg keeps his majority ownership even if the company issues more shares … But buried in the public filing is one big exception, one that Zuckerberg reportedly fought hard for: he can take a leave of absence from Facebook and still retain voting control of the company if he goes to work for the government. More specifically, as long as Zuckerberg owns enough of Facebook — 30 percent or more of shares he owned at the time of signing the stock restructuring agreement — he can serve in government. And if he owns less than 30 percent, he just needs board approval. If he doesn't get that, he can still serve in public office if the government position has a two-year term limit. (A Facebook representative confirmed this is how the agreement works.) [Wired]
Of course, Zuckerberg could be joining a crowded field: Cory Booker might also toss in his hat — and there is always Kanye West.
-
Should you add your child to your credit card?The Explainer You can make them an authorized user on your account in order to help them build credit
-
Cracker Barrel crackup: How the culture wars are upending corporate brandingIn the Spotlight Is it 'woke' to leave nostalgia behind?
-
'It's hard to discern what it actually means'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fineSpeed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in IntelSpeed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to ChinaSpeed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with DisneySpeed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B dealSpeed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance mergerSpeed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profitsSpeed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new highSpeed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
