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Mark Zuckerberg Will Pledge 99% of His Facebook Shares to Philanthropic Initiative

Originally Published: Dec 01, 2015
Originally Published: Dec 01, 2015 Last Updated: Dec 01, 2015 2 min read
Chinese President Xi Jinping State Visit At The White House
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer and founder of Facebook Inc., right, and his wife Priscilla Chan arrive at a state dinner in honor of Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, Sept. 25, 2015.
Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images

New father and tech billionaire Mark Zuckerberg announced with his wife Priscilla Chan Tuesday that the couple will donate 99% of their shares in Facebook to philanthropic endeavors focused on “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,” the couple announced Tuesday in an open letter addressed to their new born baby daughter. “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.”

With the announcement Zuckerberg goes above and beyond other billionaires who have taken the so-called “Giving Pledge,” a billionaire’s pledged spearheaded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet to donate more than half of ones wealth to charity.

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Update: This story has been updated to note that the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is a philanthropic effort.