Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg has announced that he and his wife Priscilla Chan would give away as much as 99 per cent of their Facebook shares, currently valued at a mind-boggling $45 billion, for a new, multi-faceted charitable initiative.
Zuckerberg, 31, and his wife made the pledge in a letter addressed to their first child Max, short for Maxima.
Priscilla gave birth to seven-pound and eight-ounce Maxima last week but the new father posted the news on Facebook only on Wednesday along with a photo of him, Priscilla and the baby, besides a letter written jointly by the doting parents to Maxima.
Making the announcement in the Facebook post, Zuckerberg said, “Priscilla and I are so happy to welcome our daughter Max into this world! For her birth, we wrote a letter to her about the world we hope she grows up in. Everyone is happy and healthy. Thank you for all your love and support through our pregnancy. There is so much joy in our little family.”
Zuckerberg followed up the post with a 2,238-word Press release outlining the new charitable endeavour, to be called the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Despite giving away 99 per cent of the share-holding, Zuckerberg will still retain majority voting rights in Facebook.
“We are committed to doing our small part to help create this world for all children. We will give 99 per cent of our Facebook shares, currently about $45 billion, during our lives to join many others in improving this world for the next generation," he said in the post.
The announcement found strong appreciation from the business and charity community alike, with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates' wife Melinda Gates saying: "Wow. The example you're setting today is an inspiration to us and the world".
However, the donation of most of their fortune would not happen right away. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Zuckerberg plans to "sell or gift" no more than $1 billion worth of Facebook stock every year over the next three years.
In the letter to the baby who he lovingly addresses as Max, Zuckerberg said: "Max, we love you and feel a great responsibility to leave the world a better place for you and all children. We wish you a life filled with the same love, hope and joy you give us. We can't wait to see what you bring to this world.
"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 personalised learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities.
"It's a world where our generation can advance human potential and promote equality, by curing disease, personalising learning, harnessing clean energy, connecting people, building strong communities, reducing poverty, providing equal rights and spreading understanding across nations.
"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," the letter said.
"I will continue to serve as Facebook's CEO for many, many years to come, but these issues are too important to wait until you or we are older to begin this work.
"We believe all lives have equal value, and that includes the many more people who will live in future generations than live today. Our society has an obligation to invest now to improve the lives of all those coming into this world, not just those already here," Zuckerberg wrote.
Promoting equality of opportunities is one of the stated aims of the new endeavour.
Stating that he wants to "join people across the world to advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation," Zuckerberg said the donations would be made "during our lives to advance this mission".
"We know this is a small contribution compared to all the resources and talents of those already working on these issues. But we want to do what we can, working alongside many others," he said, adding, "We'll share more details in the coming months once we settle into our new family rhythm and return from our maternity and paternity leaves. We understand you'll have many questions about why and how we're doing this."