Facebook Inc. FB CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have decided to pledge almost all their fortune to charity on the occasion of the birth of their daughter Max.
In a letter to his newborn daughter, posted on his Facebook page, Zuckerberg said that he and his wife plan to give 99% of their Facebook shares, valued at $45 billion currently, over their entire lifetime to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will focus on “personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities.” The post has got over 570,000 “likes”.
Zuckerberg also added “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. 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”.
Zuckerberg will jointly head the foundation with his wife Priscilla. Further he added that he will remain 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. By starting at a young age, we hope to see compounding benefits throughout our lives”.
As per a SEC filing, Zuckerberg "plans to sell or gift no more than $1 billion of Facebook stock each year for the next three years and that he intends to retain his majority voting position in our stock for the foreseeable future”. Zuckerberg holds 4 million class A shares and nearly 419 million Class B shares. Class B shares have over 10 times the voting rights compared with Class A shares.
Zuckerberg has signed the "Giving Pledge" under which he has committed to donate most of his fortunes toward making the world a “better place”. “Giving Pledge” signatories also include the likes of Microsoft Corporation’s MSFT Bill Gates, Warren Buffet of Berkshire Hathaway and Larry Ellison of Oracle Corp. The power couple has donated over $1.6 billion in charity mostly toward betterment of schools and hospitals.
Last month, Zuckerberg sparked off a major debate after he took two months of paternity leave to be with his newborn while extending the same privilege to all company employees. This is Facebook’s effort at strengthening its image as a company with work-family balance, allowing it to improve its employee retention and attract new talent.
Despite garnering huge appreciation, the charity “act” has been chided by many as a publicity seeking stunt and a tax ploy.
At present, Facebook carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). A couple of other tech stocks worth consideration include LendingClub Corporation LC and Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN. Both carry the same rank as Facebook.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Be the first to comment