Co-founder Saverin gives up US citizenship

Eduardo Saverin, the billionaire co-founder of Facebook Inc, renounced his US citizenship before an initial public offering that values the social network at as much as $96 billion, a move that may reduce his tax bill. Facebook plans to raise as much as $11.8 billion through the IPO, the biggest in history for an Internet company. Saverin’s stake is four per cent, according to the website Who Owns Facebook. At the high-end of the IPO valuation, that would be worth about $3.84 billion. His holdings aren’t listed in Facebook’s regulatory filings. Saverin, 30, joins a growing number of people giving up US citizenship, a move that can trim their tax liabilities in that country.

“Eduardo recently found it more practical to become a resident of Singapore since he plans to live there for an indefinite period of time,” said Tom Goodman, a spokesman for Saverin, in an e-mailed statement.