According to the New York Times, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has built a private estate worth over $110 million (approximately 791 million RMB at the current exchange rate) over the past 14 years by acquiring 11 properties in Palo Alto's Crescent Park neighborhood.
This collection of properties includes a main residence, guesthouses, manicured gardens, a pickleball court, and even a swimming pool with a removable underwater floor that transforms the swimming area into a dance floor. The highlight is a 7-foot-tall (2.1-meter-tall) statue of Zuckerberg's wife, Priscilla Chan, draped in a silver robe.
Underneath this suburban fortress lies a 7,000-square-foot (650.3-square-meter) underground space, nicknamed the "billionaire's bat cave" by neighbors. Zuckerberg also operates a private school for 14 children on one of the properties, a violation of city zoning regulations that appears to have gone unnoticed by local officials.
However, this series of developments and operations has negatively impacted some longtime residents, who have complained for years about construction noise, blocked driveways, and the presence of ubiquitous surveillance cameras. Neighbor Michael Kisnick said, "No neighborhood wants to be 'taken over,' but that's what they've done."
Nevertheless, Zuckerberg's staff occasionally reaches out to neighbors, offering wine, donuts, and even noise-canceling headphones to ease tensions.
