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Mark Zuckerberg Opened an Illegal School At His Palo Alto Compound. His Neighbor Revolted (wired.com) 140

Posted by BeauHD from the bad-neighbors dept.
Mark Zuckerberg opened an unlicensed school named after the family's pet chicken -- and it was the final straw for his neighbors, writes Slashdot reader joshuark, citing a report from Wired. The magazine obtained 1,665 pages of documents about the neighborhood dispute -- "including 311 records, legal filings, construction plans, and emails." Here are excerpts from the report: The documents reveal that the school may have been operating as early as 2021 without a permit to operate in the city of Palo Alto. As many as 30 students might have enrolled, according to observations from neighbors. [...] Over time, neighbors became fed up with what they argued was the city's lack of action, particularly with respect to the school. Some believed that the delay was because of preferential treatment to the Zuckerbergs. "We find it quite remarkable that you are working so hard to meet the needs of a single billionaire family while keeping the rest of the neighborhood in the dark," reads one email sent to the city's Planning and Development Services Department in February. "Just as you have not earned our trust, this property owner has broken many promises over the years, and any solution which depends on good faith behavioral changes from them is a failure from the beginning." [...]

In order for the Zuckerbergs to run a private school on their land, which is in a residential zone, they need a "conditional use" permit from the city. However, based on the documents WIRED obtained, and Palo Alto's public database of planning applications, the Zuckerbergs do not appear to have ever applied for or received this permit. Per emails obtained by WIRED, Palo Alto authorities told a lawyer working with the Zuckerbergs in March 2025 that the family had to shut down the school on its compound by June 30. [...] However, Zuckerberg family spokesperson Brian Baker tells WIRED that the school didn't close, per se. It simply moved. It's not clear where it is now located, or whether the school is operating under a different name. [...] Most of the Zuckerbergs' neighbors did not respond to WIRED's request for comment. However, the ones that did clearly indicated that they would not be forgetting the Bicken Ben saga, or the past decade of disruption, anytime soon.
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Mark Zuckerberg Opened an Illegal School At His Palo Alto Compound. His Neighbor Revolted More

Mark Zuckerberg Opened an Illegal School At His Palo Alto Compound. His Neighbor Revolted

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  • Not at all creepy (Score:3)

    by ZipK ( 1051658 ) on Thursday November 06, 2025 @10:46PM (#65779172)
    Not at all.

    • Re:Not at all creepy (Score:5, Insightful)

      by gizmo2199 ( 458329 ) on Friday November 07, 2025 @01:19AM (#65779434) Homepage

      Yeah, exactly. He's so fucking reclusive that his kids can't even go to a proper "private" school, of which I'm sure there are dozens in SF or Hawaii, or DC, or Tahoe, which would take his kids.

      Just the irony of a person who made his billions basically selling the private data of millions of people being so private and reclusive himself.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by DrXym ( 126579 )
        I'm sure he could afford private tutors and "home school" them just like many rich families did in the long past. It doesn't explain why other kids would be taught there though. Maybe it's all benevolent, e.g. Zuck thinks, "hey I'm paying for tutors so they can teach some other kids at the same time and my kids can get some peer bonding going". Or maybe it's some weird shit going on, some fucked up discredited teaching method like Jaden Smith received. Who knows. But it's no longer home schooling at that po

        • You don't need to be rich to homeschool. My boss at work makes less then 100k, yet his wife stays home and cares for their two children. They get by just fine. It's all about choices and a lot of people are very bad at looking past next week while making these choices.

          • Re: (Score:3)

            by DrXym ( 126579 )
            You can homeschool with no income. What I was saying is that many rich people over millennia hired tutors to teach their kids. And therefore the reasoning of Zuckerberg to teach more kids may derive from that. I speculated it could have expanded as a means of providing his kids with companionship, or it could have been some fucked up Will Smith style "school". I have no idea without more information.
      • He probably employs all those other kids to be friends of his own kids.

    • If he wanted to expose them to creepy, he would create Facebook account accounts for them.
      Remember, he doesn't live in normal life doubtful he's home much.
      I assume it's similar to a Steve Jobs thing, not allowing his kids to use iPads, etc. I assume he's getting the best of the best to teach his kids and their friends (friends for the social aspect).

  • Rich assholes (Score:1, Troll)

    by poity ( 465672 )

    I'm talking about the multimillionaire neighbors. Let a guy do a preschool with his friends... "Oh no cars will drive by in the morning outside the security fence of my 100 yard deep front lawn! I'm going to hear a faint breeze!"

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rta ( 559125 )

      i also liked this part of the article:

      The Zuckerberg compound’s expansion first became a concern for Crescent Park neighbours as early as 2016, due to fears that his purchases were driving up the market.

      yeah.... i'm sure homeowners complained about driving UP the market. sure. Esp in a state where property taxes are capped at 1% by Prop 13 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_California_Proposition_13 )

      This whole thing is an episode of RHO Palo Alto

      (tbh i WOULD be annoyed about constant construction noise but i doubt it's anywhere as bad as they make it out)

      • what happens (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward
        When someone builds a mega-mansion on your street, it makes the street less appealing as a whole and it makes your house look less attractive by comparison. It is very common for communities to have limits on how big you can make your house. For example the city I'm in, if you make your house two stories (the maximum, by the way) the required setbacks triple in size so your house won't be any bigger.

        • This is stupid. I don't care about your property values. Only in America do people think their houses are to make a profit off of and not actually live in them. We have a housing crisis all over and people can't stand to lose a cent to help others.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Rujiel ( 1632063 )

            "Only in America do people think their houses are to make a profit off of and not actually live in them."

            "Think"? That is a weird way to take the fact that a house is the only meaningful investment that most Americans could aspire to having, and turm it around so that the unavailability of affordable housing is purely homeowners' faults. Get real.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by dgatwood ( 11270 )

          For example the city I'm in, if you make your house two stories (the maximum, by the way) the required setbacks triple in size so your house won't be any bigger.

          Yeah, your definition of "mega-mansion" definitely is a starter house. My parents' home was two stories plus a basement. I can think of plenty of three-story houses that aren't even remotely mansions (e.g. row houses in San Francisco).

          Penalizing people for using space efficiently by building up just leads to more suburban sprawl and lower housing density. It's the opposite of what any sane urban planner would recommend.

        • If it's a larger house, there isn't any comparison worth making. In real estate, you compare to more-or-less EQUAL square footage and lot size to comparable properties in the neighborhood when coming up with a valuation.

          The only valuation impact a much larger home has to adjacent properties is dealing with the wank that lives in the disproportionately sized home to the rest of the neighborhood, because you are practically assured they will be a wank.

      • The neighbors don't have Prop 13 if they're under about 50 or moved into the area recently except under very limited circumstances. My parents and grandparents had that, but I didn't and can't. This is why old people in the SF Bay Area don't move.
    • It isn't just a preschool. And the neighbors' complaints aren't just about the school traffic. They're about constant construction, which is reportedly noisy and obstructs the streets, and security staff whose activities are not restricted to the Zuckerberg's property.

    • Just remember: the most entitled among us are the most likely to bitch about the least important shit.

      This is a story about a mega-rich asshole thinking he's above the law, while less-rich-but-still-very-wealthy neighbors bitch and moan about trivial shit as if it was as serious as someone testing artillery by aiming in their general direction.

      None of these people know what real problems are.

  • I don't like Zuck, but this sounds like he is homeschooling a few kids. This doesn't make it a school.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward
      do you need AI to summarize your own post for you?

    • You can't homeschool random children. You can only homeschool your own kids unless you legally form a private school or something similar.

      • Care to cite your sources? There is no difference between home school and private school in California. No special permits are required either - just annual reporting.

        • Re: Zoning permits to homeschool? (Score:4, Informative)

          by reanjr ( 588767 ) on Friday November 07, 2025 @04:29AM (#65779634) Homepage

          https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/ps/a... [ca.gov]

          Private school affidavit overview for the state of California.

          "All persons ... offering ... school instruction at the elementary or high school level shall annually file an Affidavit or statement with the California Department of Education. ...

          This includes (but is not limited to):

            - Parents who operate a private home school"

          • Zuck never filed. His school is illegal. Therefore he is not permitted to educate other people's children for the purposes of homeschooling

    • "homeschooling" is teaching one's own kids. When you're teaching somewhere between 14 and 30, most of whom are not your own kids (the Zuckerbergs apparently have three), and you employ teachers to do it,, it isn't "homeschooling". You're running a school.

    • If he was homeschooling, it would be his kids at home and there wouldn't be traffic concerns.

      There are other people's kids being educated there too, which means he's operating an unlicensed education facility.

      But it's OK because he's a tech bro billionaire so we already know there won't be consequences.

  • Get the permit, man. (Score:4, Informative)

    by smap77 ( 1022907 ) on Thursday November 06, 2025 @11:38PM (#65779278)

    You'd think a guy who can buy up hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Kauai could, ya know, get a permit from the city.

    It isn't like he wasn't concurrently spending millions on real estate lawyers at that same time, so stop your apologizing for the guy. He can afford the pros.

    • Re:Get the permit, man. (Score:4, Funny)

      by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Friday November 07, 2025 @01:11AM (#65779412)

      You'd think a guy who can buy up hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Kauai could, ya know, get a permit from the city.

      He's worried about the ethical issues.

      As in - he's worried if he does one thing ethically, it might somehow metastasize into his other endeavors.

    • You'd think a guy who can buy up hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Kauai could, ya know, get a permit from the city.

      Maybe, maybe not. City councils and education boards are rife with petty tyrants and people who like wielding power. It's also entirely possible a room full of Zuck haters would show up and shout down the application. All the money in the world might not be able to fix it (and more money might make it harder).

      As a side note, that's why it's attractive to buy an entire island, so you don't have to deal with neighbors who just want to cause trouble because they personally dislike you.

      This is also why it's imp

    • You think a guy with that kind of money gives a shit about the city having a regulatory fit over him doing stuff?

      He'll pay the fines and then pay someone else to file the paperwork and make it all go away, because he can.

      You and I? We cannot.

  • for him to pay off all of the student loans

  • In a lot size of that magnitude, why would you make it known in any way that you were running an exclusive anything? Home schooling is barely regulated and if you have a billion dollars, you could simply apply for your kids to be taught at home by whomever you wanted without anyone being the wiser. I would be concerned about hazing, assault, or kidnapping, at a public or private institution so why not just keep things under the radar and not piss off your neighbors.

    • Re:The weird thing (Score:5, Insightful)

      by sinkskinkshrieks ( 6952954 ) on Friday November 07, 2025 @12:55AM (#65779390)
      It's impossible to hide 15-30 cars showing up every morning and every afternoon to one specific part of a Palo Alto residential area. Everyone around is going to see that it's a bunch of kids coming and going to the same place, so it's either a cult/religious thing, daycare, and/or a school. And everyone is going to cause problems for the inconsiderate asshole billionaire because karma's a bitch when you un/intentionally piss people off and fail to cooperate with them to minimize disturbances.
      • PS: Palo Alto residential streets not immediately next to major roads and not used as major road shortcuts are typically pretty quiet and covered by lots of big shade trees, walkable neighborhoods, native landscaping, and $5 million homes with 0.9%/year property taxes. People who come in to party or do endless mega-McMansion remodels usually aren't welcomed.

  • Go get hire some ratchety prostitutes and have them stationed outside Zuck's property and proposition all the cars that come in.

  • While converted homes for commercial use exist in Los Altos near downtown, they don't have a billionaire buying up a whole block and turning it into his personal family compound with rando pet projects and remodeling that interfere with the rights and sanity of neighbors living around him. Or running unlicensed daycare/school facilities just because he's a rich asshole who doesn't know or care about doing things the way everyone else does like laws applying to him too, which is a stretch in America.
  • Breaking news: Silicon Valley officials have confirmed that Mark Zuckerberg is not, in fact, a human being, but an advanced extraterrestrial android prototype designed to study human social behavior — specifically, how to monetize it. Sources report that Zuckerberg was first detected sending encrypted transmissions from within the servers of Meta HQ, speaking fluently in binary and occasionally pausing to recharge via solar panel.

    Eyewitnesses claim his diet consists of ethernet cables and iced coff

  • Nobody knows what kind of school it was, or what it taught to its 30 Gifted Students. We know that the school did not close - it moved. Nobody knows where it moved to.

    We don't know why the school upset the neighbors, or what things they saw happening over there in the neighborhood. Was it VTOL jets making noise? Magnetic anomalies?

    If I had to guess, they moved it from the Zuckerberg estate in Palo Alto to someplace in Westchester County, New York.

    The funny thing is, it's not the "X" (formerly Twitter) schoo

  • Not a fan od Zuckerberg (Score:4, Insightful)

    by PoopMelon ( 10494390 ) on Friday November 07, 2025 @02:08AM (#65779510)
    But this is this world problem rules and regulatiomns gone too far. Who cares that he runs school where people voluntarely go?

    • Who cares that he runs school where people voluntarely go?

      If you read the article, you would know that the answer is "his neighbors".

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by sinij ( 911942 )
        No, his neighbors are snitching on Zuck for other reasons. Whatever he has done to piss them off (I read he was doing massive construction for years), they are using over-regulated California state to get back at him in any ways they can.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by ledow ( 319597 )

      Sorry, but ruining your kid's future by sending them off to an unlicenced school where any nonsense could be taught as fact by entirely unqualified people, without even so much as basic child protection assurances is not a thing in any civilised society.

      That's how child abuse happens, that's how religious indoctrination occurs, that's how kids get to adulthood and realise they have zero useful qualifications or skills and their best opportunity for education (and quite literally "learning how to learn") has

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by registrations_suck ( 1075251 )

        Sorry, but ruining your kid's future by sending them off to an unlicenced school where any nonsense could be taught as fact by entirely unqualified people, without even so much as basic child protection assurances is not a thing in any civilised society.

        Dude. It's pre-school. Relax.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by ledow ( 319597 )

          I work in schools - and have worked in pre-schools.

          You think that makes a difference? If anything, the kids are MORE pliable and there's GREATER opportunity for abuse and indoctrination.

  • As many as 30 students might have enrolled, according to observations from neighbors.

    I believe the cool kids at the time were calling that a "pod".

    There were mixed reactions to them, but I guess this one was extra evil because Zuckerberg oh noes ...

  • He's a sociopath. Obvious Bond villain. 007 already.

  • What's the name of his pet chicken?

  • I feel like Iâ(TM)m reading some kind of angry HOA letter. What the hell is this shit?

  • I donâ(TM)t really care about the article, but what I do care about is the propaganda word inserted into their. It implies that lots of people are using it: compound

    Not estate⦠compound

  • This really isn't about the school or what is being taught, but it's because the neighborhood is ticked off he has bought up so many houses. He owns 11 homes now, and they don't like that he's "occupying" their neighborhood. The homeschooling thing is just their way of trying to get back at him in some way.

    This realtor.com article [realtor.com] goes into detail and even shows a map of his properties.

    "Billionaires everywhere are used to just making their own rules—Zuckerberg and Chan are not unique, except that they’re our neighbors," Kieschnick said.
    Records show that Kieschnick's home is now bordered on three sides by Zuckerberg's properties—placing him at the very center of the so-called chaos that the Facebook founder's presence has caused, from additional police presence when he throws a casual barbecue to the noisy work carried out at his dwellings.

  • Sounds like a high density Karen neighborhood.

    People snitching on him because he's rich and worried about this or that that is none of their business.

  • As the title says, what was the impact on the neighbors, other than shit going on somewhere else ?

  • If it's not technically a school, advertise the location to pedophiles. Zuck won't be able to get the cops to make them leave as they aren't violating parole by being too close to a school.

  • So America doesn't allow schools to be in "residential zones".

    And they also don't allow pedestrian walking outside residential zones (AIUI). (Do they allow walking inside residential zones?)

    So enforcing the ridiculous thing of parents having to drive their children to school - or rely on the poor people's bus.

    And then they complain about raising a generation of obese lardballs?

    Something doesn't add up here. Who thought this through before implementing it? Anyone?

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