Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan welcomed their daughter, Maxima, to our world yesterday. With the birth of their daughter came the announcement that Mark and his wife would be dedicating 99% of their Facebook shares to advancing human potential and promoting equality.
The announcement of the pledge came as part of a letter from Mark addressed to his newborn daughter. He wrote, “Our hopes for your generation focus on two ideas: advancing human potential and promoting equality. Advancing human potential is about pushing the boundaries on how great a human life can be. Promoting equality is about making sure everyone has access to these opportunities – regardless of the nation, families or circumstances they are born into.
“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.
We will give 99% of our Facebook shares – currently about $45 billion – during our lives to advance this mission.”
It was initially being reported by several new sites that it would be a charity donation. Not so, as it turns out. The donation will be made to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, an organization formed as a limited liability company which will be controlled by Mark and his wife. The initiative will “fund non-profit organizations, make private investments and participate in policy debates,” Facebook said in a statement.
Any profit that comes from the investments in those companies will be used to “fund additional work to advance the mission.”
Photo Credit: Facebook
