Just In Time For A Facebook IPO Tax Break, Eduardo Saverin Renounces U.S. Citizenship

Well that’s some slick timing. Eduardo Saverin, who is best known for co-founding Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg back in their college days at Harvard, has given up his United States citizenship.

His name appeared on a list published on April 30 by the United States Office of the Federal Register, which issues a quarterly list of people who have given up their U.S. citizenship. The news was first picked up by Bloomberg earlier today.

The switch will almost certainly decrease the number of American taxes he owes on the $3.84 billion or so he is reportedly in line to make once Facebook goes public, which is widely expected to happen next week. As Bloomberg reported: “Renouncing your citizenship well in advance of an IPO is ‘a very smart idea’ from a tax standpoint, said [University of Michigan international tax law professor Reuven] Avi-Yonah.”

On the surface, this might seem like an opportunistic move. In many ways, Facebook’s story is the most modern example of the American dream gone right. Some would argue that those who have gotten rich from the company should pay some dues back into the system that enabled that success. As billionaire Mark Cuban has written on his blog, the “most patriotic thing you can do” is “bust your ass and get rich. Make a boatload of money. Pay your taxes.”

But to be fair, Saverin is a pretty unique case: He was born in Brazil in 1982, became a U.S. citizen at age 16, and has lived for the past several years in Singapore (where he reportedly drives a Bentley, parties at posh members-only clubs, and prefers the company of supermodels.) He’s also said to be investing in lots of South American and Asian companies at the moment. By all accounts his footprint is legitimately a global one.

And anyway, this isn’t the first time Saverin has made a savvy move in regards to complicated international financial regulations. In a widely published IM conversation from his college days, Mark Zuckerberg described Saverin like this: “My friend who wants to sponsor [Facebook] is head of the investment society. Apparently insider trading isn’t illegal in Brazil so he’s rich lol.”

http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/11/eduardo-saverin-facebook-ipo-us-citizenshi/?ncid=webmail1

The Man in the street pays his Taxes

The Rich Men are Tax Dodgers.

If Brian gave up his British Citzenship would he become
a Nomad.

Goes to show all he cares about is the almighty buck. He doesn't want to pay what he owes so he gets out of it by renouncing his Citizenship. That's how much loyalty he has for this country, it shows how much he loves the United States and how much it's worth to him. Because every man has his price in the world he lives in. Obviously the money he would make by turning his back on the United States and screwing every US tax payer over was a fair price to pay and a good business transaction.

I'm sure some big financial powerhouses are giving him a round of applause for making a good business decision that turned a negative cash flow situation (paying your taxes) into a positive one, simply by renouncing his citizenship.

Pisses me off actually.

I totally agree

The estimate of taxes he would owe if he stays is $300,000,000.00

Well that's a good reason, but if everybody did that we wouldn't have any citizens left.

With taxes the way they are now not a bad idea to me .

There are other countries that you would pay more. This country isn't perfect but I would NEVER consider renouncing my citizenship to save money on taxes. That is foolish and stupid. Try living someplace else and see how much you like it. Renouncing your citizenship is a slap in the face to all Americans. Hes was born a Brazilian but raised in Miami FL, he made his billions and now hes renouncing his citizenship.

Screw the rest of us that pay taxes hes rich he doesn't have to. Having an American citizenship means nothing to him or does the American people that pay taxes mean anything to him. All he cares about is money. The most greedy people in the world are rich people. They catch the disease by accumulating money, it's infectious and addictive like a drug, it becomes everything to them. Greed for money and power become all consuming.

He was born from a rich family in Brazil, so he already had a taste of the disease (greed) and doesn't want to part with any of it, even if it means he will never run out of money from paying American taxes he'd rather renounce his citizenship than part with any of it.

This country could have used his tax dollars, but he doesn't want us to have any of it.