Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg has officially become a father. He and his wife Priscilla Chan announced the birth of their daughter Max, short for Maxima.
“Priscilla and I are so happy to welcome our daughter Max into this world,” Zuckerberg posted on his Facebook page.
And to celebrate the moment, the couple has decided to donate 99 percent of their Facebook shares – about $45 billion – to a charity called ‘Chan-Zuckerberg initiative’ that will work on “personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities.” This would be one of the world’s largest charitable donations ever.
“We love you and feel a great responsibility to leave the world a better place for you and all children. We wish you a life filled with the same love, hope and joy you give us. We can’t wait to see what you bring to this world, wrote Zuckerberg and his wife Chan in an open letter addressed to their newborn daughter.
According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Zuckerberg has promised to give away up to $1 billion of Facebook stock each year for the next three years. While he will also retain his position as majority shareholder on all Facebook’s decisions in “the foreseeable future”.
To recall, Zuckerberg announced just last month that he’ll be taking a two-month paternity leave after the birth if his daughter, and said it is “a very personal decision.” Hence, we wish the Facebook founder and his wife Priscilla all the best in this beautiful journey who apparently had a rough road to parenthood. The couple has endured three miscarriages, and it was in July when they announced they are expecting their first child in a Facebook post.
The social networking giant recently also announced that its employees across the globe worldwide, will be guaranteed up to four months of paid paternal leave which can be used all at once or throughout the period of the newborn’s first year.
