Mark Zuckerberg And Priscilla Chan Have Baby, Promise To Give Away Fortune
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Now let's talk of a very privileged girl. She is the newborn baby of Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan. The Facebook founder and his wife announced the birth. And the couple also said that over time, they are giving away 99 percent of their shares in Facebook. NPR's Aarti Shahani reports.
AARTI SHAHANI, BYLINE: The pledge is worth about $45 billion today. That's a lot of money. But they plan to give it over the course of their lifetime. Zuckerberg and his wife made the announcement in the form of an open letter to Max, their newborn daughter, and in this video...
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MARK ZUCKERBERG: Having this child has made us think about all of the things that should be improved in the world.
SHAHANI: Zuckerberg, who is 31, sitting beside Chan, who's 30.
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PRISCILLA CHAN: We need to make sure that there are investments in programs that ensure that the future isn't going to be like today. The future is going to be better than today.
SHAHANI: Investments is a key word here. The couple will put money into a newly formed Chan Zuckerberg Initiative LLC - LLC meaning not a charity. Whether or not it turns a profit, the point, they say, is to build strong and healthy communities. The Facebook chief indicates that could mean addressing things like prison reform, deportation, religious violence, sexual orientation.
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ZUCKERBERG: And I hope that not just our child but, you know, everyone in our community has an opportunity to go on and have an even bigger impact in the world.
SHAHANI: This is not the first such sweeping philanthropic gesture. Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and other uber-wealthy people have pledged to give much of their money to good causes too. Aarti Shahani, NPR News, Silicon Valley.
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