Zuckerberg pledges to give away 99 per cent of shares

Following the birth of daughter Max last month, Facebook founder wants to make the world a better place for future generations

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have vowed to give away 99 per cent of their shares in the company - worth billions of dollars - to good causes after celebrating the birth of their baby girl.

In a heartfelt letter written to newborn Max on Facebook (of course), he announced the creation of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which over the course of their lifetimes will contribute 99 per cent of their Facebook shares – currently worth around $45bn – to "advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation".

The letter said: “…in many ways the world is getting better. Health is improving. Poverty is shrinking. Knowledge is growing. People are connecting. Technological progress in every field means your life should be dramatically better than ours today.”

“Our initial areas of focus will be personalised learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities,” it 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.”

Of course, despite the extremely generous move, the couple will still be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and Zuckerberg said he would continue as the CEO of Facebook for "many many years to come".

In response to a congratulatory comment by Bill Gates’ wife Melinda, who jointly runs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - which will also see the Gates give away most of their vast fortune to charitable causes - Zuckerberg said: “You and Bill have, and continue to be such inspirations to us. We hope to keep learning from you and all the good you’re doing.”