The birth of their daughter gave Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, the motive to donate 99% of their Facebook shares, which means $45 billion (£30bn) in shares over Zuckerberg's lifetime.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced not one, but two big news today. The first one was of course the birth of his daughter, little Max. Max was born last week, but her birth was only made public on Tuesday. The second was way more surprising; Zuckerberg and Chan decided to give away 99% of their Facebook shares! However, if you remembered Zuckerberg, Gates and some other tech billionaires signing the "Giving Pledge" five years ago, you won't be surprised by Zuckerberg's initiative to give away the majority of his wealth.
In addition, the spreading news came just a few days after this!
As Mark Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page: “We are committed to doing our small part to help create this world for all children. We will give 99% of our Facebook shares — currently about $45 billion — during our lives to join many others in improving this world for the next generation.”
Although Zuckerberg didn’t specify where the money will go, he did point out a number of areas of interest including: “curing disease, personalizing learning, harnessing clean energy, connecting people, building strong communities, reducing poverty, providing equal rights and spreading understanding across nations.” (source)
Zuckerberg and Chan's purpose is "to advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation".
Zuckerberg and Chan created the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Its mission mimics much of what Zuckerberg and Chan's donations have focused on in the past: personalized learning, curing diseases, and connecting people. (source)
Zuckerberg’s charitable plans are the latest indication of a growing interest in philanthropy among Silicon Valley’s young billionaires, who unlike previous generations of business tycoons, appear eager to spread their wealth while they are still young. Mr. Zuckerberg is 31, and Dr. Chan is 30. (source)
Chan and Zuckerberg have so far committed $1.6 billion to their philanthropy. According to Reuters, they have given several donations this year, including to public schools, initiatives to bring better wireless Internet access and to San Francisco General Hospital, where Chan works as a pediatrician.
According to BBC, Billionaire investor Warren Buffet congratulated Zuckerberg and Chan, proclaiming that when it comes to giving away your fortune, "30 is the new 70". As he said, "no longer should billionaires wait to die before handing over money to a different generation in a gushing approval of Silicon Valley's newest and most influential power couple".
Buffett himself pledged shares of his Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) company that were then worth $31 billion to Gates' foundation in 2006, and at the time ranked as the largest single gift. (source)
Zuckerberg also mentions what exactly the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will do:
"As you begin the next generation of the Chan Zuckerberg family, we also begin the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to join people across the world to advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation. Our initial areas of focus will be personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities".
Below you can see Zuckerberg's Facebook post, which is a letter to the couple's daughter:
Priscilla and I are so happy to welcome our daughter Max into this world!For her birth, we wrote a letter to her about...
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Their post has caused great enthusiasm in the world wide community. Famous people have already welcomed Zuckerberg's daughter, such as Melinda Gates, Bill Gates' wife, while the "likes" under the Facebook post include those of Shakira, Arianna Huffington, Arnold Schwarzenegger etc.
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