Yes, but at $15M/yr, the 13% is only $1.95M. That's high, but not singlehandedly-supporting-the-government high. In 2013, Mark Zuckerberg paid an estimated $2

Yes, but at $15M/yr, the 13% is only $1.95M. That's high, but not singlehandedly-supporting-the-government high. In 2013, Mark Zuckerberg paid an estimated $2.3 billion in total income tax [1]. About 40% - nearly $1 billion - likely went to California state taxes - for the mere privilege of living near the beach. If he wants to give $1 billion in cash away, there are alot better uses than to give it to state government bureaucrats. For example, he could have moved to Nevada, saved the $1 billion, and taken 50,000 homeless people off the streets for a year for that much money (which, by the way is ~10% of the entire homeless population in the United States - imagine the positive social impact of doing such a thing). The point is that federal taxes are inescapable, while state taxes are not. It makes no financial sense for someone with nine or ten figure tax liabilities to be living in high tax states. [1] http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2013/12/20/mark-zuckerbergs-2-billion-tax-bill/#6dd3ea5ff553 http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2013/12/20/mark-zucke...