Facebook's chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg made an announcement Tuesday that he will be donating approximately $500 million worth of company stock to a Silicon Valley charity to address and provide funds for health and education issues.
Zuckerberg donated 18 million Facebook shares, which were valued at $498.8 million, according to their closing price that day. The donation was made in favor of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works with donors to allocate their gifts.
This donation is touted to be Zuckerberg's largest donation to date. In 2010, he donated $100 million in Facebook stock to Newark public schools. This was just before his company went public this year. Later that same year, he joined the Giving Pledge, an effort led by the Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, and the Berkshire Hathaway chief executive, Warren E. Buffett, to persuade the country's richest people to donate most of their wealth. His wife, Priscilla Chan, also accompanied him.
Zuckerberg took to his Facebook account to state that he was "proud of the work" done by the foundation that his Newark donation set off, called Startup: Education, which has helped open charter schools, high schools and others.
"We will look for areas in education and health to focus on next," he said.
He did not give further details on what plans there may be for funds.
"Mark's generous gift will change lives and inspire others in Silicon Valley and around the globe to give back and make the world a better place," said Emmett D. Carson, chief executive of the foundation.
