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Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg has been sorting out his neighbors In Palo Alto, he is expanding and remodeling 11 homes he purchased in the area. To ease stress, The The New York Times Zuckerberg has gifted noise-cancelling headphones to his neighbors as a peace offering.
Facebook billionaire co-founder and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave noise-canceling headphones to his neighbors in Palo Alto’s Crescent Park neighborhood in an effort to address years of frustration over ongoing construction and disruption around his sprawling residential compound. The New York Times.
Zuckerberg has spent more than $110 million buying at least 11 homes on Edgewood Drive and Hamilton Avenue over the past 14 years, transforming this once-luxurious neighborhood of lawyers, business executives and Stanford University professors into an area dominated by construction equipment, surveillance and frequent parties.
Some of these recently purchased properties sit vacant, despite being in areas known for their acute housing shortage, while others are home to guest houses, lush gardens, pickleball courts, hydroflooded pools, and — at least for the time being — a private school for Zuckerberg’s children and more (apparently in defiance of local regulations).
Beneath the compound, Zuckerberg added a 7,000-square-foot space described as a “basement” that residents of the area likened to a “bunker” or “billionaire’s bat cave.” Zuckerberg added a 5,000-square-foot underground structure to his compound in Hawaii, which he insists is not a “doomsday bunker.”
Much of the discontent has centered on nearly eight years of continuous construction. Many neighbors cited roadblocks, debris, and constant noise as ongoing issues.
A spokesperson for Mark Zuckerberg issued the following statement fate:
“Mark, Priscilla and their children have made Palo Alto their home for over a decade. They value being members of the community and have taken many steps above and beyond local requirements to ensure the neighborhood is not disrupted.”
Zuckerberg’s first property is not a controversy
Noise-canceling headphones were among the many gifts extended by Zuckerberg’s employees to appease neighbors during particularly loud noises, along with bottles of sparkling wine and boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts. However, these gestures are not always effective. Some of his neighbors say their community has been changed — and not in a good way — by absentee ownership, strict privacy barriers, and a heavy security presence, including cameras overlooking adjacent properties and frequent patrols by private security guards.
Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This isn’t Zuckerberg’s first clash with neighbors over real estate projects. In 2016, Palo Alto officials rejected a proposal to demolish four homes and replace them with smaller homes and large basements as part of a sprawling compound. While the city denied the special application, Zuckerberg eventually moved forward gradually, doing similar jobs in a piecemeal fashion to avoid further regulatory hurdles. The Palo Alto City Council and some residents have since criticized what they describe as exploitation of zoning loopholes and the city’s regulatory inaction.
Zuckerberg’s residential portfolio extends far beyond Palo Alto. He owns 2,300 acres of property in Kauai, Hawaii, where his land acquisition and construction plans have sometimes provoked local controversy. He also owns a home in Lake Tahoe and a mansion in Washington, DC
A version of this story was published on August 26, 2025 on Fortune.com.
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