Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook shares will not entirely go to charity

Mumbai: Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that he would give away 99 per cent of his Facebook shares—currently worth 45 billion— towards charitable causes. While the move may have garnered a lot of support from all parts of the globe, but the fact that Zuckerberg is giving away all his shares in not entirely accurate.                       

The shares of the social networking company will be donated to the Chan Zuckerberg initiative, which is structured as a limited liability company (LLC) rather than a charitable trust.

He made the announcement right after the birth of his daughter Maxima, when he wrote an open letter, disclosing details about the Chan Zuckerberg initiative.

Although it is clear that charity will be one of the prime factors of the plan, Buzfeed News has confirmed with a Facebook spokeswoman that the initiative is structured as an LLC and the initiative can spend money as it wishes.  

According to the US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) Facebook filing, the money will be used for “philanthropic, public advocacy, and other activities for the public good.”

The legal filing clearly indicates that the Chan Zuckerberg initiative is owned and controlled by Zuckerberg. For the first three years, Zuckerberg will only donate 1 billion a year for the next three years.