Youth Incorporated Magazine

Becoming a parent is always a huge deal. It exposes you to new realm of love and parental responsibility. And even a net worth of 44.6 billion doesn’t change that.

On the second of this month, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan welcomed their new daughter, Max to this world. And in honour of her birth, hit by a new sense of philanthropy and responsibility towards the generation, they have pledged to donate 99% of his Facebook shares to charity. Keep in mind, this means almost $45 billion dollars.

In an open letter to his new daughter titled ‘Dear Max’, he said, “Your mother and I don’t yet have the words to describe the hope you give us for the future. Your new life is full of promise, and we hope you will be happy and healthy so you can explore it fully. You’ve already given us a reason to reflect on the world we hope you live in.” He focused on the goal of advancing human potential and promoting equality in his letter. “Advancing human potential is about pushing the boundaries on how a great a life can be”, he noted. He further wrote that if our generation can make the right investment, then all the issues on the inequality of women, underrepresented minorities and immigrants can be solved.

“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. Our initial areas of focus will be personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities.” said Mark. The letter was about creating a better and more advanced society in which people will grow together with equal opportunities. But for this, both his and his daughter’s generations will have to work together. He further wrote that people often think of the internet as just a medium for entertainment or communication. But for the majority of people in the world, the internet can be a lifeline.

He concluded with “Today your mother and I are committing to spend our lives doing our small part to help solve these challenges. I will continue to serve as Facebook’s CEO for many, many years to come, but these issues are too important to wait until you or we are older to begin this work”.

The Facebook CEO is also partnering with Gates as part of a clean energy initiative called the “Breakthrough Energy Coalition.

Image Source: reuters.com