Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, Sir Nick’s lawyer wife, was also reluctant to leave the capital when they went to California, telling the Evening Standard in 2019: “It’s never a good time to leave London.”
Sir Nick joined Facebook in 2018 as head of global affairs and rose through the ranks to be appointed Mark Zuckerberg’s number two – with the title of president of global affairs – when chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg stepped down earlier this year.
The former Liberal Democrat leader was promoted six months ago, with his new role giving him responsibility for the company’s dealings with all governments worldwide.
He reports directly to chief executive Mr Zuckerberg and was awarded £10m of shares in Facebook parent company Meta, on top of his reported salary of £2.7m, as part of his promotion.
Mr Zuckerberg has embraced a shift to remote work at Meta since the start of the pandemic, but only this year did a number of executives decide to relocate from its Silicon Valley headquarters.
Sir Nick’s California mansion was worth around £7million when he and Ms Durantez bought it in 2019. Forbes magazine described its location in Atherton, a town in California’s Silicon Valley, as ‘the most expensive postcode’ throughout the United States.
Ms Durantez posted on Instagram in 2019, amid a litany of complaints about the US: “A week and a half in California and I already had to fill out 63 registration forms – and no, not all of them were even online! Next time any Brexiteer complains about European red tape, just show them the US.”
Former Sheffield MP Hallam led Facebook’s response to the invasion of Ukraine, banning Russian propaganda outlets RT and Sputnik from the social networking site. Sir Nick also relaxed Facebook’s rules on violence to prevent moderators from deleting posts by Ukrainians calling for armed resistance against the Russian invaders.
Russia’s response was to ban Facebook and Instagram from operating within its borders, costing Meta $1.7bn (£1.4bn) in lost revenue.
Meta’s latest financial results marked its first-ever drop in revenue, from $29 billion to $28.8 billion in the quarter ended in June.
