Mark Zuckerberg Opened an Illegal School At His Palo Alto Compound. His Neighbor Revolted

Mark Zuckerberg opened an unlicensed school named after the family's pet chicken -- and it was the final straw for his neighbors, writes Slashdot reader joshuark, citing a report from Wired. The magazine obtained 1,665 pages of documents about the neighborhood dispute -- 'including 311 records, legal filings, construction plans, and emails.' Here are excerpts from the report: The documents reveal that the school may have been operating as early as 2021 without a permit to operate in the city of Palo Alto. As many as 30 students might have enrolled, according to observations from neighbors. Over time, neighbors became fed up with what they argued was the city's lack of action, particularly with respect to the school. Some believed that the delay was because of preferential treatment to the Zuckerbergs. 'We find it quite remarkable that you are working so hard to meet the needs of a single billionaire family while keeping the rest of the neighborhood in the dark,' reads one email sent to the city's Planning and Development Services Department in February. 'Just as you have not earned our trust, this property owner has broken many promises over the years, and any solution which depends on good faith behavioral changes from them is a failure from the beginning.'

In order for the Zuckerbergs to run a private school on their land, which is in a residential zone, they need a 'conditional use' permit from the city. However, based on the documents WIRED obtained, and Palo Alto's public database of planning applications, the Zuckerbergs do not appear to have ever applied for or received this permit. Per emails obtained by WIRED, Palo Alto authorities told a lawyer working with the Zuckerbergs in March 2025 that the family had to shut down the school on its compound by June 30. However, Zuckerberg family spokesperson Brian Baker tells WIRED that the school didn't close, per se. It simply moved. It's not clear where it is now located, or whether the school is operating under a different name. Most of the Zuckerbergs' neighbors did not respond to WIRED's request for comment. However, the ones that did clearly indicated that they would not be forgetting the Bicken Ben saga, or the past decade of disruption, anytime soon.

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