Florida gubernatorial candidate Frank J. Russo has challenged Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg to put $250 million of his own money toward a new fund and help raise another $1 billion from wealthy Floridians. Russo announced the challenge on September 15, 2026, as an expansion of his Florida Data Center Community Responsibility Act.
Russo's proposal is a voluntary Florida Data Center Modernization Fund, an independent trust not run by the state. Zuckerberg would commit $250 million and lead an effort to raise another $1 billion from billionaires in technology, finance and other industries. The money would help existing Florida data centers upgrade their water and energy systems within five years, the same deadline set in Russo's broader proposal.
Zuckerberg recently purchased a South Florida home reportedly valued at about $170 million. Russo framed the challenge as separate from criticizing wealth: people who have benefited from the technology economy and chosen Florida as home should invest in protecting it, he said. "If you're going to call Florida home, help protect it," Russo said.
Russo's Florida Data Center Community Responsibility Act has five parts: a Community Responsibility Tax on large data centers based on electrical capacity, a Host-Community Fund that keeps data center revenue in host cities and counties for roads, water infrastructure, parks, baseball fields and Boys & Girls Clubs, a five-year modernization deadline with annual progress requirements, a push for new and upgraded facilities to supply their own power instead of adding strain to Florida's public power grid, and a review aimed at eliminating existing state tax credits and incentives for data centers.
Russo said he would rather work with lawmakers, local governments and industry leaders to pass the plan, but would take it to Florida voters through a ballot initiative if the legislature in Tallahassee does not act.
