December 20, 2012

Zuckerberg Gives $500 Million in Stock to Charity

Facebook have had a difficult year, with their stock enjoying a roller coaster ride since their IPO in May.  With the share price suffering, many shareholders might regard Facebook in a Scrooge like way.

Alas the Christmas spirit is alive and well within Facebook, with news that Mark Zuckerberg is donating nearly $500 million in stock to a charity based in Silicon Valley.

The charity, which focuses on health and education issues, will receive stock valued at $498.8 million based upon the price of stock at the close on Tuesday.

The Silicon Valley Community Foundation is a non-profit organization that works with donors to allocate their gifts, with the Zuckerberg donation being by far the largest donation to date.

It marks another in a line of charitable donations from the Facebook CEO.  He pledged $100 million in Facebook stock to Newark, New Jersey, public schools in 2010, before his company went public earlier this year.

Later in 2010, he joined Giving Pledge, an effort led by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett to get the country’s richest people to donate most of their wealth.

First published Dec. 19, 2012 on Technorati by Adi Gaskell.

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