【Thailand】

Nope. Not even close. Not gonna happen. Dream on. Mark Zuckerberg is Thailandunder no threat from Facebook shareholders.

But you might have been under some impression if you'd seen headlines in the last few days hinting at such a thing.

"Mark Zuckerberg is under attack from Facebook shareholders who want him to step down as chairman of the board of directors of Facebook."

That's the story that has been circulating in the last few days. It stems from a notice sent to various media publications that an organization had collected a group of Facebook shareholders calling for change at Facebook. The story was picked up by a variety of media outlets including the Chicago Tribune, Yahoo News (via IB Times) VentureBeat, Silicon Valley Business Journaland a smattering of others.

It gained some steam, even trending for some on Facebook.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Here's the problem: Zuckerberg and Facebook are under absolutely no pressure from this action. The movement amounts to a strongly worded letter from some people who want Facebook to do well. Zuckerberg has no obligation to do anything.

"When you were buying this stock, you knew you were basically ceding all control to Mark Zuckerberg," said Robert Salomon, associate professor of management and operations at New York University's Stern school of business. "And if you didn't like that, you shouldn't have bought the shares."

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

The shareholder group was organized by SumOfUs, a nonprofit that "exists to put corporations back in their place," according to its website.

The problem is that SumOfUs and its group of 1,500 Facebook shareholders have no power here.

Yes, shareholders can cause change at some companies. In recent decades, investors have made a strategy out of buying up chunks of companies then pushing for change among its leadership. Owning a piece of a company has classically meant having an equivalent say in that company's operation.

Facebook — and many of its newer tech brethren — don't work like that. Facebook has two kinds of shares. One type of share counts as 10 votes; the other counts as 1 vote. Zuckerberg controls around 57 percent of the voting power, meaning he doesn't have to listen to a few piddling shareholders or conceivably even his board of directors.

Even Spiegel and Snapchat are doing the same thing ahead of its IPO. Google also has this "dual class" structure.

If that seems unfair, you're not alone. The move to give Zuckerberg control of the vast majority of Facebook's voting power — which used to be what shareholders typically enjoyed — is the subject of a lawsuit.

A spokesperson for Facebook declined to comment about the letter, but noted that the company would respond to it in a filing ahead of its shareholder meeting later this year — as it does for all shareholder proposals.

As for what shareholders can actually do? Well, they have the option of not being Facebook shareholders anymore.

"Their only option really is to vote with their feet and sell and walk away," Salomon said.

---

Featured Video For You

---

Facebook's new Privacy Basics

---

Topics Facebook

• Tech
• Digital Culture
• Shopping
• Entertainment
• Life
• Games
• Deals
• Science

• Stablecoin bill advances in U.S. Senate as Trump critics call to end his crypto dealings
• Ghostwriter, the guy behind the viral Drake/Weeknd song, thinks AI music is like fanfiction
• “Purple Elegy”: A Poem for Prince, by Rowan Ricardo Phillips
• Poem: Nin Andrews, “The Artichoke”
• Sony launches new flagship XM6 headphones: Order them now
• Win Free Tickets: Nathaniel Mackey and Cathy Park Hong
• Netflix is opening stores soon — but don’t expect a ‘Blockbuster’ revival
• Lovehoney's sex toy Advent calendars: 24 days of fun, $302 off
• Stablecoin bill advances in U.S. Senate as Trump critics call to end his crypto dealings
• Teffi: My First Visit to an Editorial Office

• Barbra Streisand calls out female directors being overlooked in powerful Time's Up speech
• The original songs in 'Schmigadoon!' perfectly capture the joy of musicals
• An ode to Will Smith's perfect Instagram account
• 2018 is already off the rails thanks to Donald Trump
• Wolff, Bannon, 'Fire and Fury' publisher get cease and desist letters
• Why this UK public figure deleted 50K tweets in a day
• Trump rumors are fun, but they're a dangerous fantasy
• First look at Mars's interior reveals a different picture than Earth
• Google's Olympic Doodle is a full
• Jeff Bezos flies to space in historic Blue Origin flight

• Analyzing Graphics Card Pricing: May 2018
• 'V/H/S85' uses this Throbbing Gristle song to give you nightmares
• Something You Never Want to Hear a Man Say—“It’s Like Sex, Right?”
• How to watch Arkansas vs. Alabama football without cable: kickoff time, streaming deals, and more
• 'The Last of Us' Season 2, episode 4: Why Ellie sings 'Take on Me'
• Watch Gabrielle Bell Discuss Her Early Comics
• Two Poems by Nathaniel Mackey
• When Life Feels Like a Heavy
• Android Performance Tips and Tweaks
• Poem: Jean Valentine, “Birthday Letter from South Carolina”

• Astronomers saw one galaxy impale another. The damage was an eye
• Where to buy sex toys online: 17 places to help you get off
• TikTokkers are hiding their deepest insecurities in product requests
• Lovehoney's sex toy Advent calendars: 24 days of fun, $302 off
• Amazon Prime Grubhub deal: Save $10 off orders of $20 or more
• Twitter reacts to the pure insanity that was Arizona's Republican primary for governor debate
• Apple Watch for 'extreme sports' will have a larger display, report says
• Ghostwriter, the guy behind the viral Drake/Weeknd song, thinks AI music is like fanfiction
• NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for May 18: Tips to solve Connections #237
• Little Match Girl: Taking Abuse on the Internet