When you've got $257.8 billion in the bank, you'll forgive people for thinking you could splash out on the odd gift for your neighbors. Even if it's a pair of freshly baked muffins like Desperate Housewives' Bree Van de Kamp, it's got to be better than the 'insulting' gift the Meta overlord has apparently given his neighbors during construction of his Palo Alto megacompound.
Like many big names in the tech world, Mark Zuckerberg remains a divisive figure of intrigue. Following drama with Zuckerberg's Hawaii compound, The New York Times claims the Facebook co-founder has gifted his suffering neighbors noise-cancelling headphones to deal with the constant construction going on in Palo Alto's affluent Crescent Park.
Zuckerberg has supposedly spent some $110 million to purchase at least 11 homes in the area, with family after family moving out of Edgewood Drive and Hamilton Avenue after he's offered them up to triple what their homes are worth.
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As part of his megacompound, Zuckerberg is accused of bringing intense security and surveillance with him, despite residents reporting they hardly ever see him. Alongside a private school for his children, a pickleball court, and yet more rumors that he's building underground bunkers, there's the infamous seven-foot statue of his wife that he had commissioned.
The outlet says it obtained building permits, home deeds, recordings of local commission meetings, and more on the Crescent Park expansion. Nine neighbors were interviewed, with seven wanting to remain anonymous amid fear of retribution.
According to Aaron McLear, a spokesman for Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, the pair have tried to make things easy for neighbors by not training cameras at their houses, asking staff members not to park their cars in the area, and providing plenty of notice for potentially disruptive events.
McLear maintained: "Mark, Priscilla and their children have made Palo Alto their home for more than a decade. They value being members of the community and have taken a number of steps above and beyond any local requirements to avoid disruption in the neighborhood."
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Among Zuckerberg's critics is neighbor Michael Kieschnick, who added: "Billionaires everywhere are used to just making their own rules — Zuckerberg and Chan are not unique, except that they’re our neighbors. But it’s a mystery why the city has been so feckless."
The article concludes that although Zuckerberg has since tried to improve things by moving workers to quieter electric cars and sending an ice cream truck to a block party he didn't attend, there's the memorable mention of the noise-cancelling headphones.
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When the story was shared on Reddit, others were shocked by the 'gift', with one person writing: "That’s insulting actually."
Another angry reader added: "He's going to need that bunker with the way he's acting. Why do we let billionaires exist again?"
A third concluded: "They need to gift him a device back - for the tone-deaf."
It sounds like someone won't be invited to the next potluck supper.