Fucking traitor if you ask me.

hmmmm

now that he's no longer a citizen, he can't vote in elections. he strikes me as a typical "i've got mine, so FU," type of person. probably a republican too... but don't quote me on that....

...until we can change that.

and that counts more for an election than a single vote.

I'm guessing he's got a or several residences here that he pays taxes on.

And you know what? Singapore ain't California or NY.

Or even owning residences here if he wants. But the story is that he has not been in the U.S. for some time now. I am not sure if you were slamming Singapore or not. I have been there several times and it is nicer than most of CA or NY.

Very little beats California or NY.

If you want consistent contact w/ the global players - you're here.

Regardless, I doubt that he's interested in hanging with the global players.

He's already made his billions. Time to go play.

As in, less chewing gum on the sidewalks? That's punishable there BY LAW! Srsly. Chewing gum! (Don't even get me started on the smelly durian fruit. )

Or, fewer messy protests clogging up the streets? Again, punishable BY LAW! No First Amendment there.

At least none that I have been to and I have been to 41 so far. It is for that reason I prefer living in the U.S. to anyplace else. Maybe if I was not interested in politics it would not be a priority. I think most people like living in a society which is clean. Most people do. Don't you? They have a different culture than we do so it might be hard to live there full time I don't know.

The citizens are extremely well educated and civil, but the punishments for even the mildest infractions are quite severe. That seems to be an Asian thing - trading civil liberties for order and full employment. It would not work well here at all, IMO.

I think he's pretty shallow, actually.

He had an idea and his idea made him some money. He hasn't done anything to actually EARN the money he is making now--he's just living off the interest.

It would serve him right if the place got even more Draconian after he settled in there...!

The media is tightly controlled for "acceptable" expression of views.

Opinions not suitable for the controlled media tend to be expressed via spray-painted slogans.

graffiti is punished severely not because it is vandalism but because it is an unauthorized and uncontrolled method of expressing political opinion

And "theft and vandalism" as Michael Fay learned....!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_P._Fay

But sadly, in all reality, what the tourists usually don't get to see is that it's a highly corrupt hellhole mostly run by fascist dickheads and unscrupulous CEOs looking to punch their way to the top no matter who gets hurt. Oh, and did you know that old school British-style corporal punishment is still perfectly acceptable for minor infractions over there? It's kinda like Mainland China but without the faux-Marxist cover story.

I just have a feeling that he's going to regret moving there.......and I betcha within a few years he'll be running back to the U.S. begging to get his citizenship back. The other poster may not be slamming Singapore, but I am, and for a damn good reason(I do hope you realize, though, that this is directed at the elite and the government of that nation, and not its citizens).

He was born in Singapore and has lived there for many years. If he does want to come back to the U.S. he does not need citizenship to do so. Plenty of foreign wealthy people live in the U.S. without citizenship.

so long, theres the door . dont let it hit u in the rear as you exit.taxes are the price of civilization.

More to the point, why does he hate California so much? We just dug ourselves an extra $7 billion, with a B, of budget hole, and this worthless shitball dodges our taxes along with his federal ones?? After all, all we did was provide the business and intellectual climate where, unlike anywhere else on the planet, he could make those billions in the first place.

Mr. Severin will wind up paying more in taxes there than he would to the US. The US has the lowest tax rate for wealthy people than any other developed/civilized(?) country in the world, right?

This individual lives in Singapore where the highest rate is 20%. Ours is about 39% not counting state or local income taxes.

.... someone, like Saverin, who earns based on cap gains and/or dividends (15%).

Next year's top rate will be 43.4%. When you factor in state income taxes it will be over 50%. I suspect Saverin's tax advisers know more about his situation than you do. The poster I was replying to raised the question whether the U.S. had a low rate. There are a lot of countries with lower top rates. http://www.gfc.com/pdf/GFFA/2011-12-21_Insights_on_Income_Tax_Rates_to_Soar_by_2013.pdf

So in 2013, we're back to Clinton-era rates for the highest earners.

The Health care law added a 3.6% (I may be off one or two tenths of a percent) medicare tax on high end incomes (I think above 250k). So it will be that much higher. This of course assumes two things. One that Obama and congress actually let the Bush/Obama tax cuts expire and two that the Supreme Court does not strike down the entire health care law.

Most other countries don't tax you on your offshore income. So, for example, if you are an Itaiian resident you have massive taxes... unless you made that money in another country, and you pay zero on it.

He's probably better off abroad. Where he won't have to foot the bill for any stupid wars.

...TSA Security measures be placed on this miserable soul everytime he lays foot on this soil! Ethical terrorist to all that is Decent

... or whatever euphemism those douche bags are using for the ultra-wealthy these days.

(P.S. - I love that two variations for "douche bag" appears in the DU online spell check)

the most logical sense.

Despite the protestations I see in this thread, I know that every single one of you makes sure you pay the absolute minimum tax. Don't pretend you're any better than he is. If you want to dump a bunch of extra money into the federal coffers just to watch it be used to burn little children to death or blow up their innocent parents, be my guest.

... to pitch away something which is broken rather than taking a more ethical path toward fixing it. so... just more the same...huh...

things got bad enough, you'd bolt too. We all would. He just has the means to do it. Our government can't even come up with a budget. How long has it been? A year? More? Besides. He's one man, in business, not government. He can't change a damn thing. I'm sure a part of him is like, "Call me when you get your shit together."

We will all do the same thing if we were in his shoes, knowing that others would hate us for it. The instinct to feather one's own nest is far stronger than any polyannish thoughts. We just envy that he is in a position to be able to do such a despicable thing.

some of us around here practice what we preach..

so maybe not use such broad brushes in the future when speaking for 'all' of us jealous folks.

Every dime he has was from people who worked *for* him and the company that brought him wealth. Every dime he takes away from US coffers will mean more people who get less support when companies like Facebook start slashing the workforce.

We arent billionaires. We dont have 'extra' cash that we dont use to LIVE on daily to give up so freely. So yes, most of us do probably attempt to pay the least we can get away with.

Whats his excuse?


Id gladly pay more in taxes if I had his wealth. Id still be rich, regardless.

Unfortunately, some of us around here do practice what we preach (especially when given the ability to do so) ..

Sorry, some of us ARE better than him. Maybe you need to do some soul searching, maybe youre speaking for yourself.. but 'dont pretend' to speak for all of us.

And that is the truth.

"Born in Brazil, he immigrated to Florida in 1992..." The move to the U.S. appears to have been because the Brazilian government couldn't ensure his parent's safety. Why would you expect him to have any deep loyalty to the U.S.?

Threads like this come up from time to time and people always foam at the mouth and rant and rave for no good reason. I'm just glad to say that, having never used facebook, this guy's not made a dime off of me.

And there are people who want to come and be citizens of the US - why did we grant it to someone who just thought of it as a convenience?

He is obviously not a patriotic American.

I'm not defending him or, for that matter, FB. But there seems to be a lot of confusion here about Saverin's role in FB. He was involved at the beginning, but he got squeezed out. Litigation between Saverin and FB resulted in his getting to maintain the title "co-founder" and, while he owns around 5 percent of the company, he is not an officer, director, or otherwise involved in the company's operations at this point (from what I've been able to determine).

So, while there may be reasons to quit FB, I'm not sure that this guy's actions are a particularly compelling reason.

to quit.

It is a lovely place for the likes of this greedy bastard......good riddance....


http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2011/12/23/singapores-inequality-battle/

it suited his and his allies' financial interests.

They're just trash.

I should be loyal to the US because I'm a US citizen by accident of birth? Fuck that. I think everyone should be able to live where ever they want if it's in their means and power to do so. I care deeply about the US because it is where I was born, it is where I'm a citizen, and so it's where I vote. I care about my vote in the US because I have it. I care about the government in the US because that's the one that's been entrusted to me to have a small bit of responsibility for. I do not care about it for the sake of allegiance. In fact, the idea of having loyalty or allegiance to a country sickens me. I'm loyal to what I feel is just, true, and right in the world.

because of its subscribers, that is why.....and each of its subscribers should be a shareholder and we should have a say in who gets paid and how much and have all the rights that shareholders have of any other corporation....

and when one of the people who admittedly put this together and should get some compensation for that work say 10-20 %, but instead takes billions to another country, and you say that is just, true and right in this world....I say you are wrong.....

The only thing I have contributed is some personal content, for which I have received some social contact with friends and associates that I find a fair trade. I have contributed nothing of monetary value, and bear no financial risk in the enterprise's success or failure.

By those standards, as a proud member of Red Sox Nation I should be able to influence Red Sox management to place Beckett on waivers right _______ now, but I cannot.

what value would FB have....?

and yes, all professional sports teams should and will be owned by the public in the new paradigm....

As the makers of pink slime have discovered. But it still doesn't allow me to participate in management of the enterprise. I have more skin in the game here at DU, with it's pay to play scheme. When is our board meeting?

What I meant was that THE RICH do not have citizenship, do not feel any sort of bond toward the people of their country, and don't care a RAT's ASS what happens to the people of the country.

What I meant was that they will suck the life blood out of the country they do business in, they will steal from the people of that country, and will move their headquarters wherever they frikkin' want. They'll also move wherever they feel like, and never look back.

In other words, the mega-rich and corporations have no country, and are not citizens of any country because they're greedy shitheads who live for absorbing wealth from wherever they can do so.

It's capitalism that's at fault. It's the economic systems supported and managed by governments which are nominally put in place by people like you and I that make their accumulation of wealth possible. The wealthy aren't the problem - they're just a symptom of it.

it is the economic system ....

So the ginormous question being asked today.......

More regulation or Less regulation....?

Democrat or Republican...?

Or is there a much larger question dealing with the human greed factor.....

Same for taxes and wages - not necessarily more or less, but what, and why?

We have the power in the world to see to it that no one lives in poverty, everyone has access to quality healthcare, everyone could eat nutritious meals, etc. but we don't do it.

More regulation won't help if they're the wrong regulations. Some of the regulations in place now are hurting more than helping, but that doesn't mean that less regulation as a rule is better.

I just know that basing things on greed and selfishness won't help.

place.

And yes, I agree that capitalism is at fault. The selling of capitalism is the biggest propaganda campaign I know of.

Capitalism is an economic ideal that allows the stronger and richer to control the rest. That's all it is.

If every rich person today died in a freak accident, they'd be replaced soon enough. That's how capitalism operates - it's part of the system. I get bothered when people are upset for the rich not "giving back" or something when they aren't being taxed equally already. We can't legislate greed, but we can legislate fair taxes. There are some rich folks with a sense of equity who liked to be taxed more, but they're outweighed by those who would pay less and have the finances to make that happen.

Instead of slagging off the rich, how about we work to have publicly funded elections, instant runoff voting, universal healthcare, etc. All of those things would significantly limit the influence of wealth, and likely, the equitable distribution of wealth. It's fine and dandy to point out the outlandish behaviour of the rich, but it's not going to fix things - they're a product of the same system as those doing the pointing. Now, who's going to fix it?

owes the country that made him a Richie Rich. Oh and on edit, never come the fuck back! Not ever!

Unless the US gets its shit together, we'll see this accelerate at an exponential rate.

I've argued for years that the most important thing a tax hike on the rich will do is to remove hundreds or thousands of the greedy rich people who fucked this country up. They don't give a damn about this country and, being the good vulture capitalists they are, will descend upon some other place that charges them less, and fuck up that place instead.

This guy still has to pay people to oversee his possessions and properties here, but he can't vote and can't donate to political campaigns. The nearly useless "trickle-down" his vampiric existence produced never stops while the person's powerful potential political influence is (potentially) reduced.

He got out of Facebook (or rather, was forced out) and will merely profit when it goes IPO.

A guy who's born in Brazil, who doesn't live in the US -- and hasn't lived in the US for a long time, from what I gather -- doesn't really feel he owes the US anything.

And as for voting? Sheesh, when so many Americans don't even vote, that's how valuable most Americans think their vote is.

He's the one that gets reported. Behind him are a hundred other people just like him who have already seen the writing on the wall: they're not going to buy this election, and paying a fair share is going to cost them dearly.

And that is the full extent of their patriotism: they're Americans while they can feed on us. When they have to give back, they leave.

It is long since time for them to go steal the future of some other hardworking nation.

To do it right before the billions come in just looks bad and he deserves to be run through the ringer for it

But too good to pay American Taxes. This is the worst kind of Rich person

We are currently talking about the ultimate paper billionaire: he owns four percent of a currently-privately-held corporation. When the company DOES go public, he will retain his wealth as long as Facebook's market cap remains high.

Now, this Facebook: this is the website that makes money by selling its users' private information to advertisers. This means when the Internet-using public finally decides it's had enough of Mark Zuckerberg's shit, Saverin will NOT be a paper billionaire. He will probably be a paper thousandaire.

Go ahead and renounce your citizenship. but you still pay US taxes on ALL income earned here and you cannot ENTER THE U.S. again.

Since he wants to invest in Asian markets, Singapore or Hong Kong (usually ranked 2nd) is the place to be.

http://www.edb.gov.sg/edb/sg/en_uk/index/why_singapore/singapore_rankings.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11671839

He doesn't have to work another day in his life...What "business" does he need to conduct other than living large?

to avoid U.S. taxes - that is FU**ed up!!!! He needs to the pay piper that PAYED HIM!!!!

The U.S. economic system allowed him to prosper beyond the norm and it is IMMORAL

to duck U.S. taxes. By being a resident of the United States he was able to be a participant of

FACEBOOK. If he had been a resident of Singapore during Facebook's formative years - HE'D BE

SHIT OUT OF LUCK LIKE THE REST OF US!!!! His U.S. residency was MATERIAL TO HIS SUCCESS AND HE

SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO AVOID THAT.

As I understand it he has to pay tax on his Facebook shares. So I don't see what the problem is.

232 million European users
195 million Asian
173 million North American, about 18 million of which are Canadian.

http://www.internetworldstats.com/facebook.htm

So it is a bit of a gamble. They could decide they're going to take all of his property. In that country, at least.

So here we have the rule of law, and that's a good thing for someone like him. On some level, he's dumb.