Apparently attempting to nail the tricky Bill Gates Conversion—that is, the transition from suspicion-tinged tech billionaire into well-regarded public philanthropist—Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has announced that he and his family will be giving away 99 percent of their shares in the social media company, “over the course of their lives.”
Zuckerberg—and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan—made the announcement after the birth of their first daughter, Max, early last week, presumably on the grounds that one of these days she’s going to be old enough to watch The Social Network, and wonder why her dad was such an unrepentant, Jesse Eisenberg-faced dick all the time. (Giving away $45 billion in social media stock—the currently estimated value of the couple’s Facebook holdings—should help alleviate some of that sting.) The pair also announced their own charity organization, The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which will initially be dedicated to “personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities,” as well as the unstated goal of kicking the asses of the Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation at the annual Billionaire Philanthropist Chili Cook-Off And Intramural Softball Game.