# Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan to donate 99% of their Facebook stock

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2015/12/03/mark-zuckerberg-and-priscilla-chan-to-donate-99-of-their-facebook-stock/
- Published: 2015-12-03T10:47:57+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Dr Priscilla Chan marked the birth
of their daughter Max with the announcement that they will give away 99% of their
Facebook stock to support education and health initiatives.**

This means that they will give, over time, **$45 billion (£30 billion)** to charity.
The money will be given to the newly created [Chan Zuckerberg Initiative](https://www.facebook.com/chanzuckerberginitiative/).

They announced the gift in an [open letter to their newborn daughter](https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/a-letter-to-our-daughter/10153375081581634),
saying:

## Advertisement

 [⌊Posthub advert. You create the campaign. We'll handle the postal journey. Get started at post-hub.co.uk.⌉](https://fundraising.co.uk/ads/posthub-20261007-300x250/)

> “Like all parents, we want you to grow up in a world better than ours today”.

 
⌊Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan's letter to their daughter Max⌉ The announcement
of this gift was made on [Giving Tuesday](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/2015/12/01/14-fundraising-ideas-from-giving-tuesday-2015/),
a now global initiative to promote charitable giving and involvement.

Zuckerberg and Chan will begin by donating up to $1 billion of Facebook stock each
year for the next three years.
 

## Other major donors

The decision by Zuckerberg and Chan follows in the footsteps of other wealthy people
who have signed up to the [Giving Pledge](https://www.fundraising.co.uk/2010/08/04/40-billionaire-us-families-pledge-give-away-most-wealth/)
to commit themselves to donating the bulk of their wealth to charities during their
lifetime.

Investor Warren Buffett, one of the initiators of the Giving Pledge, praised Chan
and Zuckerberg for their decision and their relatively young age, saying that, in
terms of giving such large sums, “30 is the new 70”.

Buffett has so far given over $17 billion, and Bill and Melinda Gates have donated
$29 billion to charitable activities. Investor George Soros has donated about $11
billion.

Steel magnate Andrew Carnegie still tops the list of the most generous individual
donor. He gave away almost all his wealth, worth around $100 billion today, before
he died.
 

## Big Philanthropy raises questions

While many have welcomed the commitment to make such a transformative and ongoing
gift, it does raise some questions. Dr Beth Breeze summarises them in her analysis
in [Zuckerberg: the applause, the criticism and the need to discuss philanthropy](https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/philanthropy/2015/12/02/zuckerberg-the-applause-the-criticism-and-the-need-to-discuss-philanthropy/).
They include:

• the creation of their own foundation suggests an apparent lack of trust in existing
charitable initiatives, and a need to control expenditure
• the concentration of
extensive philanthropic power in the hands of a few individuals• public taxes being
redirected through tax relief to charitable interests of a few individuals• contrast
between Facebook’s corporate tax position and CSR activities and its founder’s private
philanthropy 

## Donation to a company, not a charitable foundation

https://twitter.com/eisingerj/status/672049978471276544
 The [Chan Zuckerberg Initiative isn’t even a charitable foundation](http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/facebook-mark-zuckerberg-charity-share-donation-1.3346966),
but a LLC or limited liability company.

However, this gives the couple much more flexibility than a traditional foundation
in how and when they spend the money; for example, it means that they can use it
for lobbying work.

This was acknowledged in a statement by Facebook spokesperson Vanessa Chan who wrote:

> “This includes but isn’t limited to funding nonprofit organizations, making private
> investments and participating in policy debates with the goal of generating the
> greatest impact.”

Yet Dr Breeze and her colleagues at the [Centre for Philanthropy at the University of Kent](http://www.kent.ac.uk/sspssr/philanthropy/)
welcome the fact that these issues are being raised. She said:

> “Philanthropy is an arena in which such debates thrive because there is no fixed
> agreement on exactly what philanthropy is, why it exists or what it can and should
> achieve. This is what makes it such an interesting part of life to study and think
> about”.

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