Zuckerberg Marriage: Romance Or Asset Protection?

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“I want to get married, but I’m too busy arranging my record breaking public offering. I promise as soon as its done we’ll get married, go on a great honeymoon, and live happily ever after” …. Really??

The national media reported that Mark Zuckerberg married Priscilla Chan the day after the Facebook multi-billion dollar IPO, but I have not seen any explanation on national media about the timing. Why get married just after the IPO and not before? Was the marriage timing romantic, or was it a form of asset protection?

A general principal of family law is that asset acquired during a marriage are marital property. If one spouse had assets before the marriage, and those same assets significantly appreciate during the marriage, the appreciation arguable is also marital property. If Mr. Zuckerberg married his wife prior to the IPO he would give his new wife a claim, in the event of divorce, to a share of  the sharp increasing in stock value that occurred by virtue of the IPO. As it played out, Mr. Zuckerberg’s Facebook stock at $38/share is his pre-marital asset.

The story is instructive to other entrepreneurs. Your worst creditor is an angry ex-spouse. A good pre-nuptial agreement is part of asset protection, but it also helps to make money first and get married second.