Zuckerberg & wife to donate 99% of Facebook shares to charity

Zuckerberg said he and Priscilla are committing to spending their lives doing their small part to help solve challenges faced by the world.

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have decided to donate 99 per cent of their shares in the company to charity during their lives in an effort to make a happy and healthy world as they announced the birth of their daughter Maxima.

In a letter to Maxima posted on his Facebook page, Zuckerberg said that "We are committed to doing our small part to help create this world for all children.

We will give 99 per cent of our Facebook shares -- currently about $45 billion -- during our lives to join many others in improving this world for the next generation".

"Priscilla and I are so happy to welcome our daughter Max into this world! For her birth, we wrote a letter to her about the world we hope she grows up in," he said.

"It's a world where our generation can advance human potential and promote equality -- by curing disease, personalising learning, harnessing clean energy, connecting people, building strong communities, reducing poverty, providing equal rights and spreading understanding across nations," Zuckerberg said in his post.

"Our hopes for your generation focus on two ideas: advancing human potential and promoting equality. Advancing human potential is about pushing the boundaries on how great a human life can be," he said.

Zuckerberg said he and Priscilla are committing to spending their lives doing their small part to help solve these challenges.

"I will continue to serve as Facebook's CEO for many, many years to come, but these issues are too important to wait until you or we are older to begin this work. By starting at a young age, we hope to see compounding benefits throughout our lives," he said.

In the letter, he announced to begin 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 personalised learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities," 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," Zuckerberg said.

"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," Zuckerberg said in the letter.

"We understand you'll have many questions about why and how we're doing this. As we become parents and enter this next chapter of our lives, we want to share our deep appreciation for everyone who makes this possible," he said.

"We can do this work only because we have a strong global community behind us. Building Facebook has created resources to improve the world for the next generation. Every member of the Facebook community is playing a part in this work," he added.

"We can make progress towards these opportunities only by standing on the shoulders of experts -- our mentors, partners and many incredible people whose contributions built these fields. And we can only focus on serving this community and this mission because we are surrounded by loving family, supportive friends and amazing colleagues," he said.

Image: Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla. Photograph: Reuters