Mark Zuckerberg has become a dad for the first time, and to celebrate he and wife Priscilla Chan have vowed to give away 99% of their Facebook shares.
Following the arrival of Max, the couple penned a letter in honour of their first daughter’s arrival.
It read:
Dear Max, 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.
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.”
He then outlined his plans to sell shares in the social media giant he established in 2004.
He said:
Our initial areas of focus will be personalised 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.”
Love, Mom and Dad”.
With the value of those shares being roughly £30 billion, claims it is only a ‘small contribution’ are obviously ridiculous, and the money could go an incredibly long way in helping many people.
How refreshing that as we approach Christmas there is a real tale of a rich man preparing to spread the wealth, and he didn’t even need to be visited by three ghosts.
