Zuckerberg Takes Control, You Get $100

Mark Zuckerberg must be one persuasive deal maker. After eight years, the co-founder and chief executive of Facebook has an ironclad grip on the social networking giant. He owns 28.4 percent of all Class B shares, and through a chain of agreements with other shareholders, he has voting control over at least 57.1 percent of Class B shares. And as DealBook’s Deal Professor, Steven M. Davidoff, noted in his recent column, Zuckerberg’s power is likely to increase over time as more Class B shareholders sell their stock. Three types of agreements essentially grant Zuckerberg special voting control over other stockholders’ shares. The group of investors who signed these agreements include early lieutenants, like Sean Parker, Facebook’s first president, and several of the company’s venture capital backers, like Yuri Milner’s DST Global and Accel Partners. According to the agreements, investors signed away their voting rights in exchange for one Benjamin. While the $100 payments were likely a formality, they provide yet another amusing symbol of Mr. Zuckerberg’s sway at Facebook and how early investors have subscribed to the belief that Facebook is indeed “a Mark Zuckerberg production.”