Facebook shareholders give green light for share issue to keep Zuckerberg in control
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg will maintain control of the tech titan after investors approved a proposal to issue $5.7bn (£3.9bn) non-voting shares.
He's now able to give away the vast majority of his wealth without diluting his voting power in the social media giant. "I plan on being involved in and running Facebook for a very long time," he told an annual shareholder meeting tonight.
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The move means investors with Class A or B stock will be offered two Class C shares as a one-time dividend, the latter coming without shareholder voting power.
They also voted to re-elect Facebook's board of directors, including PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. He was recently outed as the secret funder of wrestler Hulk Hogan's lawsuit against US news and gossip website Gawker.
Facebook's latest batch of results smashed analysts' expectations due to its popular mobile app and a push into live video.
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Its net income attributable to common shareholders nearly tripled to $1.51bn, or 52 cents per share, in the first quarter from $509m, or 18 cents per share, a year earlier.
Revenue rose to $5.38bn from $3.54bn, beating analysts expectations for $5.26bn. Ad revenue rose 56.8 per cent to $5.20bn, with mobile ad revenue accounting for about 82 per cent of this.