SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
Mark Zuckerberg will leave California and its proposed “billionaire tax” to relocate to Florida, where he is buying a waterfront property worth more than $US130 million ($183 million).
The Meta chief executive and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are reportedly purchasing a newly completed home on Miami’s Indian Creek Island, known as the “billionaire bunker”, and plan to move in by April.
Momentum is building in the Golden State for a one-off, 5 per cent wealth tax on anyone with a net worth of more than $US1bn. This would cost Zuckerberg $US11.45bn.
Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, has said he opposes a wealth tax, but a healthcare union is gathering signatures to force a referendum on the measure this November.
Fears of the tax have prompted a scramble by wealthy residents to leave the state, including Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, Jeff Bezos, and Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. None of the world’s five richest people live in California, despite four having founded their companies there.
Zuckerberg, with a fortune of $US229bn, could be in line to avoid the levy.
He is purchasing a property on Indian Creek, a gated, artificially made barrier island also home to Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The three-storey villa, in Spanish colonial style, enjoys waterfront views visible from its verandas and a jetty into Biscayne Bay. Renderings on the website of CMA Design Studio show lush gardens and a waterfront pool.
The circular driveway, featuring a crisscross pattern, separates an annexed gatehouse from the entrance, which leads to a courtyard with a water feature and stepping stones to the main house.
White walls are complemented by blue shutters, forming a U-shape around a lawn leading to a pool surrounded by palm trees and landscaped flower hedges.
Inside, the home is decorated in neutral tones and includes a large open-plan kitchen, multiple living rooms, and a marble bathroom overlooking a large balcony.
The two-acre property is expected to sell for between $US150m and $US200m according to local real estate agents. An undeveloped lot of the same size sold for $US105m last year, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Real estate agents in South Florida said they had been showing properties to wealthy Californians since the billionaire tax was first proposed. Florida does not impose a state income tax.
Indian Creek is only accessible via a guarded bridge and requires an invitation to enter. The island has expanded since the pandemic.
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner bought a white, French neoclassical house there in 2021 for a reported $US24m after leaving Washington. Jeff Bezos has spent $US237m on three properties on the island, two of which form a mega-compound.
Other residents include Tom Brady, the NFL star; Julio Iglesias, the Spanish singer; and David Guetta, the French DJ, whose 2023 purchase cost $US69m. Carl Icahn, a Wall Street investor, bought his plot in 1997 for $US7.5m.
“This is all post-COVID, and it was actually quite different before … $US20 million was a big sale”, Dina Goldentayer, a real estate agent, told Bloomberg, noting that Indian Creek property prices have ballooned in the past decade and are now out of reach for millionaires.
At just half a square mile, and mostly covered by golf courses, the island has become a haven for the super-rich seeking privacy and beachfront views. Brokers said the sudden exodus of Californians has pushed the ultra-luxury housing market back to levels matching or surpassing the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Besides Indian Creek, Miami’s beachfront Coconut Grove neighbourhood has become a favourite for tech billionaires, with Google co-founder Larry Page buying two properties there for a combined $US173.4m.
Zuckerberg, who already owns homes in Lake Tahoe, Palo Alto, and Kauai, reportedly bought the Indian Creek house from a limited liability company tied to entrepreneur Peter Cancro and his wife, Tatiana Cancro.
His new neighbours include Norman Braman, a billionaire car dealer and his wife Irma Braman, who told the Wall Street Journal that Zuckerberg planned to move in by April.
Built between two other houses, the villa is white, features wraparound terraces, a private dock, a waterfront pool, and an annex in the driveway.
The Telegraph, London
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