Eduardo Saverin, the billionaire co-
founder of Facebook Inc. (FB), renounced his U.S. citizenship before
an initial public offering that values the social network at as
much as $96 billion, a move that may reduce his tax bill.
Facebook plans to raise as much as $11.8 billion through
the IPO, the biggest in history for an Internet company.
Saverin’s stake is about 4 percent, according to the website Who
Owns Facebook. At the high end of the IPO valuation, that would
be worth about $3.84 billion. His holdings aren’t listed in
Facebook’s regulatory filings.
Saverin, 30, joins a growing number of people giving up
U.S. citizenship, a move that can trim their tax liabilities
in that country. The Brazilian-born resident of Singapore is one
of several people who helped Mark Zuckerberg start Facebook in a
Harvard University dorm and stand to reap billions of dollars
after the world’s largest social network holds its IPO.
“Eduardo recently found it more practical to become a
resident of Singapore since he plans to live there for an
indefinite period of time,” said Tom Goodman, a spokesman for
Saverin, in an e-mailed statement.
Saverin’s name is on a list of people who chose to renounce
citizenship as of April 30, published by the Internal Revenue
Service. Saverin renounced his U.S. citizenship “around
September” of last year, according to his spokesman.
Singapore doesn’t have a capital gains tax. It does tax
income earned in that nation, as well as “certain foreign-
sourced income,” according to a government website on tax
policies there.
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