Facebook’s Zuckerberg buys his privacy for $30 million

Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg just paid a whopping $30 million for his privacy.

He bought four properties surrounding his in Palo Alto, Calif., after hearing that a developer "was going to build a huge house and market the property as being next door to Mark Zuckerberg," a source told the San Jose Mercury News.

He paid far more than the properties were worth, Zillow reports, and more than four times the price he paid for his own house back in 2011. The median home value in his neighborhood is $3 million -- yet he paid one neighbor $14 million for a 2,600-square-foot house half the size of his.

Do you suppose the other three neighbors are angry that they didn't hold out for more?

Considering that the neighbors probably hadn't been planning to sell, it's not a surprise that he had to pay them a premium. And they don't even have to move or change their lifestyles at all; he's leasing the homes back to them.

Hm ... we wonder how much he's charging for rent.

And in case the thought had occurred to you: No, you're not the only one who feels it's ironic that he's buying his privacy at the same time that Facebook users are lamenting the loss of theirs.