Questions About Zuckerberg – Chan Prenup Emerge
![Zuckerberg-marries-Chan](https://kbf04e.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Zuckerberg-marries-Chan-300x200.jpg)
Last week
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg officially and publicly increased his net worth. This past Friday Facebook went public and began trading on the
NASDAQ stock exchange. The media coverage for the weeks leading up to the offering was intense. The initial offing price was $38.00 and trading opened at $42.05. At one point the stock reached a high of $45.00 before it closed at $38.23. Those who were lucky enough to be a part of this IPO made $0.23 for every $38.00 they invested. I know it was just the first day of trading and time will tell whether owing shares in Facebook is a winning or losing investment.
For Mark Zuckerberg the IPO of his company spotlighted his personal wealth. According to a report on
Mashable, Zuckerberg’s 503.6 million shares and options are worth between 19.1 and 21.2 billion dollars. As the Facebook share price fluctuated so did Zuckerberg’s relative net worth. When you are worth a few billion dollars
Forbes Magazine ranks you against other billionaires. Apparently, with the early surge of the stock Zuckerberg leaped in to the mid twenties of the list. Not bad for a man who is all of 28 years old.
Some might think that bringing a company you founded public and having it be the third largest initial public offering of all time might be enough excitement for one weekend. Apparently, when you are a 20 something billionaire entrepreneur you need to get married the weekend after your IPO. This weekend Mark Zuckerberg married his college sweetheart Priscilla Chan.
Admittedly, our blog is dedicated to legal issues. We do not cover the legal aspects financial or securities issues and we certainly do not cove r entertainment or social stories either. However, with the sudden public wealth and marriage the family law questions arise quickly. The most obvious question… Is there a prenup? Yesterday, the
New York Post reported on the marriage with this headline,
“Zuck’s status: married – Hope he’s got a good prenup!” CBS News entered the Zuckerberg prenup fray with its story,
“Why Mark Zuckerberg needs a prenup”. Not to be out done
Donald Trump offered his prenup advice to Zuckerberg.
I do not know if Zuckerberg and Chan have a prenup. I do know that in the event of a divorce a prenup would go a long way to resolving equitable distribution and alimony disputes. Most importantly, a prenup could define which assets are marital and which are pre-marital. Since the company went public the day before the marriage the vale, gains and losses will be very easy to determine. The harder question, absent a prenup, “Who gets what and how much?”.
The lawyers at DeMichele & DeMichele are experienced prenuptial agreement lawyers.
Contact our firm or call (856) 546-1350 to schedule a confidential intital consultation.