Mark Zuckerberg and wife to give $45 billion to charity

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg pledged to give away his fortune to make the world a “better place” for his new baby daughter Maxima and others.

In a letter to Maxima posted on his Facebook page, Zuckerberg and his pediatrician wife Priscilla Chan said they were going to give away 99 percent of their company shares — estimated value $45 billion — during their lives in an effort to make a happy and healthy world.

Zuckerberg will “gift or otherwise direct” nearly all his shares of Facebook stock, or the after-tax proceeds of sales of shares, to further a mission of “advancing human potential and promoting equality” by means of activities for the public good, the California-based social network said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Zuckerberg early on added his name to those who have taken a Giving Pledge to dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy. Names on the pledge include Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, and IAC/InterActiveCorp powerhouse Barry Diller.

“We believe all lives have equal value, and that includes the many more people who will live in future generations than live today,” Zuckerberg and Chan said. “Our society has an obligation to invest now to improve the lives of all those coming into this world, not just those already here.”

[AFP]

This entry was posted in Philanthropy by Grant Montgomery.