Facebook’s CEO Is Donating 99 Percent of His Shares To Honor His Daughter’s Birth

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg just announced the birth of his first child with his wife Priscilla Chan, along with the huge news that he will be donating a large portion of his wealth to “advancing human potential and promoting equality.” Zuckerberg and Chan made the announcement in a lengthy Facebook post addressed to his daughter, Max.

“We will give 99% of our Facebook shares — currently about $45 billion — during our lives to advance this mission,” he said. “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.”

The post also included the announcement of an entirely new organization: “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.”

Zuckberberg has been on a philanthropic hot streak lately. Earlier this week, he teamed up with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and other technology entrepreneurs to create a multi-billion-dollar clean energy fund. The Breakthrough Energy Coalition includes several billionaire entrepreneurs in addition to governments and university. The coalition has stated its goal as bringing clean-energy ideas to the marketplace and encouraging the use of sustainable energy.