To Fund Philanthropy Efforts, Mark Zuckerberg Sells Million in Facebook Stock
CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg has sold $95 million of the social networking giant’s shares in the first gesture to fulfil his pledge that he and his wife made last year to fund a philanthropic venture that targets to give away most of the Facebook founder’s wealth in his lifetime.
In December last year, Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan had pledged to donate 99% of their Facebook shares – about $45 billion – in a letter to their newborn daughter Maxima Chan Zuckerberg – to advance human potential and promote equality for children.
The couple had then declared that the “Chan Zuckerberg Initiative” would initially focus on “personalised learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities”.
“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,” they posted in a 2,200-word letter to their new-born daughter on Facebook.
“We will give 99% of our Facebook shares during our lives to advance this mission. 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 couple wrote.
According to a US regulatory filing, the sale of more than 760,000 shares of Facebook stock, valued at about US$95 million before taxes was made by the Chan Zuckerberg Foundation and CZI Holdings LLC, Forbes reported on Saturday.
According to Facebook, Zuckerberg and his wife plan to sell up to $1 billion per year for the next three years. Currently, Facebook has 1.71 billion monthly active users.
The sales were made between May and August, at prices of about $124. Facebook shares (FB) closed Friday at $123.56, up 18% for the year.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2016/08/19/mark-zuckerberg-sells-95-million-facebook-shares/89018424/
