Mark Zuckerberg Donates 99% of Facebook Shares After His Daughter is Born

Today

I'm not sure we'll be seeing herds of Silicon Valley staffers gathering around Pride Rock as she's lifted skyward by Dustin Moskovitz, but the birth of Max Zuckerberg (I've no idea) is still worth marking down. It's been making news for a while now, but not in the typical tabloid sense when every detail of famous pregnancy is documented above and beyond what might be expected of some sort of baby-crazed stalker. Instead, the more pertinent subject has been the parental leave allowances Zuckerberg has introduced since announcing his wife's pregnancy, and now that she's been born, he's doing something even bigger.

In a letter to his daughter on his own page, Zuckerberg has said that he and his wife (Priscilla Chan) will both be donating 99% of their Facebook shares to charity, gradually across the course of the rest of their lives. This amounts to £30 billion, at Facebook's current value, but obviously as time goes by the value will fluctuate, donation to donation. Specifically, the money will be donated to the Zuckerberg Chan Initiative, a foundation set up by the couple in 2009 to create long-term investment schemes for education, renewable energy, environmental conservation, scientific research and healthcare.

In the letter, Zuckerberg talks about his desire to create a future where not only his daughter, but every child has a chance of a better, more fulfilling life. He discusses the need for more funding into medical research, and more broadly, his generation's responsibly to work towards creating a better future for all the ones that follow. He talks about creating a true global community, eliminating poverty, inequality and all the other forces that divide humanity. As far as Zuckerberg is concerned, co-ordinated, gross investment in the right areas is what's needed to set all this in motion.

An issue he highlights is that a great deal of charitable funding follows a short-term logic, when what's really needed is long-term (25-100 years, by his count). He cites these goals as not only the prerogative of the Zuckerberg Chan Initiative, but of almost everything he's hoping to do with his time and energy for the rest of his life. He clearly recognises that wealthy, influential individuals such as himself have to lead by example, but how many more will follow him is another matter.

He has no intention of giving up his controlling stake of Facebook, which is another reason why the donations are being staggered, for the moment they will not exceed $1 billion per year, and more information about exactly how the money will be used will be made clear once Zuckerberg and Chan return from their 2 month paternity leave.

Callum Davies

Callum is a film school graduate who is now making a name for himself as a journalist and content writer. His vices include flat whites and 90s hip-hop. Follow him @CallumAtSMF

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