Mark Zuckerberg

He held a fundraiser at his home in 2013 for Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey. [1]

"The newest start-up to watch in Silicon Valley involves a crowd of top tech stars –led by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg — who are seriously exploring the formation of a new independent expenditure group focused on a range of issues, including education and immigration reform, sources tell the Chronicle.

"Word is the IE move was organized by Joe Green, Zuckerberg’s old Harvard roommate. And we’ve heard the Facebook CEO has pledged millions to the cause — one source says as much as $20 million — and has gotten others to pledge as much as $2 million to $5 million each...

"Sources say the group is bringing on Jon Lerne, the Republican strategist who founded Maryland-based Red Sea LLC and who is behind the conservative Club for Growth. Joining him will be ultra-conservative GOP consultant Rob Jesmer, a former strategist with Texas Sen. John Cornyn and the National Republican Senatorial Committee...

"The reports of a big Valley SuperPAC effort to push for reforms on a variety of different political fronts follows recent news. We reported Zuckerberg and a group of tech executives recently became part of an effort organized by TechNet to push President Obama and Congress for a “more open and flexible” U.S. immigration system.

"Among valley luminaries who joined Zuckerberg in signing a letter to Obama and Congress were Hewlett-Packard CEO (and former GOP gubernatorial candidate) Meg Whitman, venture capitalist John Doerr, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt, Cisco CEO John Chambers, Intel CEO Paul Otellini and Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer."

• Founder, FWD.us

Criticism

• David Swanson, "Zuckerberg Gets an Earful After Promoting Keystone XL: Network Against KXL", Counterpunch, May 14, 2013.