New parents Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan say they will give away 99% of their shares in the company — currently worth $45 billion — to good causes right after the birth of their daughter Max. Mr Zuckerberg made the statement in a letter to Max on his Facebook page.
Zuckerberg made his stock giveaway promise official in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing says:
On December 1, 2015, our Founder, Chairman and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced that, during his lifetime, he will gift or otherwise direct substantially all of his shares of Facebook stock, or the net after-tax proceeds from sales of such shares, to further the mission of advancing human potential and promoting equality by means of philanthropic, public advocacy, and other activities for the public good. For this purpose, Mr. Zuckerberg has established a new entity, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, LLC, and he will control the voting and disposition of any shares held by such entity.”
Zuckerberg said the aim of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is “to advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation”. Its initial areas of focus will be personalised learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities. He added that more details about the donation will be released once he and Ms Chan return from paternity and maternity leave.
Here is the letter the parents shared on Facebook.
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