Mark Zuckerberg to donate half his wealth to charity
Last Updated on Tuesday, 29 March 2011 21:15 Friday, 10 December 2010 23:34
Gah. Just when you were in the middle of ranting about the evils of Facebook, their determination to stamp out privacy and freedom on the internet and their recent closing of accounts of those associated with supporting WikiLeaks, its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, goes and gives billions to charity. Now who's the dumbass?
In a move coldly calculated to make us look like twits, Zuckerberg has signed up to the Giving Pledge project. That was started by billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill Gates and involves pledging to give away at least half of your wealth either before or on your death. Carl Icahn and AOL co-founder Steve Case are also signing up to the pledge. Zuckerberg could be in line to donate $3.45 billion to charitable causes.
So far, 57 billionaires from the U.S. have signed up since the project was announced in June. The organisation is meeting with other billionaires in foreign countries with a view to expanding the project.
Zuckerberg is unique in that most people wait until they are past the fifty mark before they realise money isn't everything and begin to give back. "People wait until late in their career to give back," said Zuckerberg, "But why wait when there is so much to be done? With a generation of younger folks who have thrived on the success of their companies, there is a big opportunity for many of us to give back earlier in our lifetime and see the impact of our philanthropic efforts." At 26, Zuckerberg is estimated to be worth $6.9 billion by the Forbes rich list, which makes him the 35th most wealthy American.
According to a press release, other donors to join this month include;
Michael and Lori Milken and Dustin Moskovitz of California;
Joe and Rika Mansueto of Illinois;
Nicolas Berggruen, Ted Forstmann, Sidney Kimmel, Tom and Cindy Secunda, and Charles Zegar and Merryl Snow Zegar of New York;
Lee and Toby Cooperman and Duncan and Nancy MacMillan of New Jersey;
David and Barbara Green of Oklahoma;
Denny Sanford of South Dakota;
Lyda Hill and George P. Mitchell of Texas.
So, after all our ranting against Facebook and all our warnings of where they were dragging the internet, we humbly tip our hat to Mark Zuckerberg and applaud his generosity. A noble and worthy move of the highest order.
You can find the letters of the donors at givingpledge.org
