Eduardo Saverin’s (Facebook Co-Founder) Interview With Veja Magazine

Below is a paraphrased interview  of one Eduardo Saverin (Facebook co-founder) and Veja, Brazil’s leading news magazine

Eduardo Saverin’s choice of giving up his U.S. citizenship:

“The decision was strictly based on my interest of living and working in Singapore. I am obligated and I will pay hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes to the American government. I already paid and I will keep paying whatever taxes I owe based on my time as a U.S. citizen.”

How Eduardo Saverin’s father, Roberto Saverin  feels about his son giving up his U.S. citizenship:

“It was hard for me, because of the life I built in the U.S., hearing from Eduardo that he had to give up on his citizenship. But he did this not because he wanted to, but because he had no other choice as a foreigner living in Singapore, where financial transactions are more restricted and bureaucratic for those who hold a U.S. passport. There was no other way. Besides, after Facebook’s IPO, there would be much pressure on him if he stayed in America.”

The now infamous e-mail sent by Mark Zuckerberg to another Facebook cofounder, Dustin Moskovitz, in which he discusses how Eduardo Saverin’s stake in the site could be reduced:

“I have only good things to say about Mark, there are no hard feelings between us. His focus on the company since its very first day is anything short of admirable. He was a visionary, he always knew that the only way for Facebook to grow was to maintain its central idea, that of people truly presenting themselves as they are, without nicknames or pseudonyms. That’s Facebook’s biggest strength, what allowed us to transform it into an instrument of protest, like what happened in Egypt, but also in an instrument of business, not to mention a way of naturally connecting with friends.”

On keeping a low profile on his Facebook page, where he’s ‘liked’ by 1.4 million people:

“I don’t like showing my privacy online.”

On his current investments:

“I am investing like a crazy person, mostly in internet start-ups. And I want to invest in Brazil as well, because I am Brazilian and that’s in my heart. I’ve recently been cc’d on e-mails sent to Eike Batista [Brazil’s richest man]. But that’s not how I want to invest in Brazil, through minerals, unless it’s silicon or something tech-related. And I believe there’s a new Facebook out there to be found. Where? My guess is in healthcare.”

On the movie ‘The Social Network,’ where he is portrayed by American-English actor Andrew Garfield:

“That’s Hollywood fantasy, not a documentary. Facebook wasn’t built out of a Harvard dorm window. And I would never throw a laptop at someone, like it appears in the movie. Not even at Mark.”

So there you have it, Eduardo Saverin’s interview with Veja magazine’s reporter-Fabio Altman and photographer-Gilberto Tadday.

(courtesy of Forbes magazine)

Read About Eduardo Saverin’s entrepreneurial life journey