Facebook founder drops US citizenship to escape taxes

ISTANBUL

Andrew Garfield played Saverin in the 2010 hit The Social Network. Photo by ABACAUSA.COM

Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin has renouced his U.S. citizenship, allegedly in order to steer clear of what are soon to be heavy taxes.

The move follows Saverin’s settlement in Singapore, where he has been living for some time now, investing in several projects, Agence France-Presse reported. He is required to pay taxes on his income there under American law, which taxes citizens on their income earned worldwide, despite Singapore's loose taxation policies on foreign cash. 

Though Saverin’s citizenship arrangement is seen as almost certainly designed to escape taxation, Forbes magazine has claimed that it may not go as smoothly as planned. Under the law, Saverin will still be paying certain taxes to certain taxes to U.S. government, including an exit tax. 

Saverin, together with the now 28-year-old Marck Zuckerberg, was one-half of the brains behind Facebook, until the business relationship went down in flames, resulting in a legal battle that pitted the once good friends against each other. The lawsuit ended with a ruling in Zuckerberg's  favor, and Saverin's share in Facebook was reduced to two to four percent.

Even with his downsized stake in Facebook, Saverin is still a wealthy man, with his Facebook shares worth a total of $3.4 billion.

The courtroom battle entered popular lore when Facebook's nuclear rise to web stardom was depicted  in 2010's Golden Globe-winnning film "The Social Network." The blockbuster hit told the story of Saverin and Zuckerbeg, with Jesse Eisenberg's performance as Zuckerberg earning him an Oscar nomination for best actor.