Mark Zuckerberg and wife sell $95m in shares to fund philanthropy
Facebook’s founder, the world’s wealthiest Jew, had pledged to give away 99% of his shares after daughter’s birth
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Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, sold company shares valued at nearly $95 million to fund their charitable efforts.
The funds reportedly were sold by the Chan Zuckerberg Foundation and CZI Holdings LLC, both owned by the couple, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.
The price of the shares ranged from $122.85 to $124.31. The sale reportedly was scheduled months ago to avoid insider trading issues.
Late last year, Zuckerberg, who is Jewish, and Chan pledged to give away 99 percent of their shares in the company “during our lives” to charity. The pledge, then worth approximately $45 billion, came in a Facebook post on Dec. 1, 2015, announcing the birth of their daughter, Max.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was formed to fund charities, companies and policies for “advancing human potential and promoting equality,” according to its website.
“We will make long-term investments over 25, 50 or even 100 years because our greatest challenges require time to solve,” the site said.
The initiative is a limited liability corporation instead of a foundation, which allows it to participate in public advocacy and invest in businesses or other entities whose profits will be used to support the initiative’s work, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Ranked the sixth-wealthiest person in the world by Forbes, Zuckerberg’s net worth is currently estimated at $44.6b.
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