Yesterday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the healthy and successful birth of his daughter. He and wife Priscilla Chan named her Maxima. But it’s Zuckerberg’s letter to his newborn daughter that’s getting lots of social attention.
In his letter to baby Maxima, Mark Zuckerberg promises to make the world a better place for her and her generation. Mark and Priscilla wrote they would give most of their company shares (around $45 billion) to make the world a happier place. Zuckerberg will direct these stocks to ‘advance potential and promote equality’. He made this declaration official by filing it with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, though he intends to hold his majority voting power. He pledges to focus on issues like education, medical care, and making the Internet available to everyone worldwide. Zuckerberg joins other technology leaders who pledge to give much of their wealth to charities and worthy causes. This written promise is called Giving Pledge. Other signers of Giving Pledge include former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, and Oracle leader Larry Ellison. Zuckerberg and Priscilla back such promises. They’re building ‘The Primary School’ in a low income neighborhood in the Silicon Valley area. This doesn’t include the $120 million they’re pledging to San Francisco public schools.
First and foremost, we at Computer Geeks congratulate Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan on the birth of their daughter. I share Mark and Priscilla’s dream of this world being better for Maxima’s generation than it is for us. There’s a lot of work to be done in that area. You just can’t throw money at the problem. The initiatives they’re talking about will take years of hands on innovation, hard work and people skills. They can’t do it alone, either. It will take many, many helping and willing hands. I think the Zuckerbergs are up for the challenge. What do you think?