welcomed their first child – a baby girl called Max into the world,
and used her arrival to announce plans to give away most of their $45
billion fortune. The billionaire and his wife shared the
news of the baby’s birth in a Facebook post entitled, ‘A letter to our
daughter’. Included in the lengthy post was the couple’s pledge to
donate the vast majority of their fortune to future generations.
will donate 99% of their Facebook shares currently valued at $45
billion – to the work of their charitable foundation,
That would leave them with $450 million for themselves and their new
child – based on Facebook’s current valuation.Part of their letter to their daughter reads…
‘Your mother and I don’t yet have the words to describe the hope you
give us for the future. Your new life is full of promise, and we hope
you will be happy and healthy so you can explore it fully. You’ve
already given us a reason to reflect on the world we hope you live
in.”Like all parents, we want you to grow up in a world better than
ours today,’ it says. ‘While headlines often focus on what’s wrong, in
many ways the world is getting better. Health is improving. Poverty is
shrinking. Knowledge is growing. People are connecting. Technological
progress in every field means your life should be dramatically better
than ours today.
‘We will do our part to make this happen, not only because we love you,
but also because we have a moral responsibility to all children in the
next generation.’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.
‘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,’ ‘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. We understand you’ll have many questions about why and
how we’re doing this.’