No, [1] says that he was taxed on exercising the option to buy stock at a certain price. He had to sell stock to have money for taxes. Quote: On the day of Fac

No, [1] says that he was taxed on exercising the option to buy stock at a certain price. He had to sell stock to have money for taxes. Quote: On the day of Facebook's initial public offering, Zuckerberg exercised a stock option and purchased 60 million Facebook shares at a "strike price" of 6 cents each. Even if those shares are never sold, the IRS treats them as ordinary income at the time the options are exercised. The rationale is that such options are a form of compensation, just like regular wages. 1 - http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/28/technology/zuckerberg-tax-bill/ http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/28/technology/zuckerberg-tax-bi...