Mark Zuckerberg donating 99% of his shares to charity

[John Mac]

http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/1/9831554/mark-zuckerberg-charity-45-billion

In a surprise announcement today, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have pledged to donate 99 percent of their Facebook shares to the cause of human advancement. That represents roughly $45 billion at Facebook's current valuation, making it one of the largest charitable pledges in history. The details of the donation are still unclear, but the couple has already registered a Facebook page for an organization called the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

 

[barbc56]

I will look forward to more details about this story. I wonder if this has something to do with the fact that the Zuckerbergs just had a baby?

Missed the first citation. It has everything to do with the birth of their daughter. What a legacy!

Barb

 

[msf]

When is the question.

 

[Martial]

Wow, that is one humble family.

 

[Bob]

Good news. It looks like some of it will be spent on health and education along with other projects. But it's a long term project. Results won't be for decades.

 

[KonaRose]

Oh, PLEASE let them throw some pennies at ME/CFS/SEID whatever they would like to call this!!!!

 

[wdb]

A surprising number of other billionaires have done something similar:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giving_Pledge

 

[Scotty81]

@Cort

Is there any way that you know if the CFS/ME/SEID initiative (and the lack of appropriate funding) can be put in front of the Zuckerbergs so they at least know this need exists? Perhaps something as well from the NIH that acknowledges (at least recently) that there is a desperate need for additional funding?

Regards,
Scotty81

 

[Bob]

A surprising number of other billionaires have done something similar:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giving_Pledge

That's interesting. I hadn't seen the list before. There must be quite a number of billions pledged in that list.

 

[Bob]

There's a little bit more info about it here:

Zuckerberg Responds To Critics, Explains How He’s Spending $45B
http://techcrunch.com/2015/12/03/zuckerberg-responds-to-critics-explains-how-hes-spending-45b/

 

[leela]

How Mark Zuckerberg’s Altruism Helps Himself
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/b...-zuckerbergs-altruism-helps-himself.html?_r=0

 

[JPV]

It's nothing but a tax dodge.

 

[SOC]

It's nothing but a tax dodge.

He can have his tax dodge if it's a huge benefit to disadvantaged people.

 

[Bob]

It's not like he's channelling his wealth to dodgy offshore tax-dodging companies. He's donation the money to his foundation for good causes. If you read the techcrunch article, above, he says he will be paying full taxes. But the less tax he pays, the more will go to his foundation.

 

[JPV]

From the NY Times article that @leela posted...

Mark Zuckerberg did not donate $45 billion to charity. You may have heard that, but that was wrong.

In doing so, Mr. Zuckerberg and Ms. Chan did not set up a charitable foundation, which has nonprofit status. He created a limited liability company, one that has already reaped enormous benefits as public relations coup for himself. His P.R. return-on-investment dwarfs that of his Facebook stock. Mr. Zuckerberg was depicted in breathless, glowing terms for having, in essence, moved money from one pocket to the other.

An L.L.C. can invest in for-profit companies (perhaps these will be characterized as societally responsible companies, but lots of companies claim the mantle of societal responsibility). An L.L.C. can make political donations. It can lobby for changes in the law. He remains completely free to do as he wishes with his money. That’s what America is all about. But as a society, we don’t generally call these types of activities “charity.”

So what are the tax implications? They are quite generous to Mr. Zuckerberg. I asked Victor Fleischer, a law professor and tax specialist at the University of San Diego School of Law, as well as a contributor to DealBook. He explained that if the L.L.C. sold stock, Mr. Zuckerberg would pay a hefty capital gains tax, particularly if Facebook stock kept climbing.

If the L.L.C. donated to a charity, he would get a deduction just like anyone else. That’s a nice little bonus. But the L.L.C. probably won’t do that because it can do better. The savvier move, Professor Fleischer explained, would be to have the L.L.C. donate the appreciated shares to charity, which would generate a deduction at fair market value of the stock without triggering any tax.

 

[Bob]

That NYT article can't decide whether he's tax dodging by investing in good causes, or not tax dodging because he's donating his wealth to a company the follows normal tax codes. The way it's written seems like the author has an agenda.

In any case, Zuckerburg has explained his intentions in the TechCrunch article, and explained that a private company gives him more freedom to manage his capital so he can make his investment capital self-sustaining, and so he can invest in e.g. start-up companies that are pursuing beneficial causes. US non-profits have many stringent restrictions when it comes to making investments and organising capital.

 

[SOC]

So he's not just dumping his money in a non-profit over which he has no control. So he's getting PR benefit from this move. So what? Is the public so greedy as to say, "Zuckerberg didn't do everything he could do for us without any benefit to himself! What a pig!"

Zuckerberg and Chan are going more good for other people with their money than thousands of other wealthy people. Where's Mitt Romney's equivalent contribution? Or the Khardashian's? Or that of any number of other excessively wealthy people we could name? Some are generous, most are not.

I'm not looking this gift horse in the mouth.

 

[SOC]

That NYT article can't decide whether he's tax dodging by investing in good causes, or not tax dodging because he's donating his wealth to a company the follows normal tax codes. The way it's written seems like the author has an agenda.

That was my impression, too. It reads like the journalist is just drooling to find something, anything to make Chan and Zuckerberg look bad and hasn't really found anything to sink his/her teeth into. I'm not saying Zuckerberg and Chan are perfect people. I really don't know. But this journalist does indeed seem to have an agenda.

 

[Bob]

More reading for anyone interested. A bit more about his plans and past philanthropic activities/donations. Curing disease is one of the top missions on his agenda going forward.

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-12/04/zuckerberg-explain-charity-money
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive...erg-priscilla-chan-facebook-charity-donations

 

[snowathlete]

Wonder if he's on social media? would follow him on Twitter and suggest he help us out but seems he's not that active on there. What's that other social media site called? Oh yeah, My Space!
I'll go check that out. Anyone else know where they can contact him, do mention us to him, okay?!

Spoiler

In case my humour does not translate: yes, I have heard of Facebook.