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Mark Zuckerberg Gives $990 Million To Charity

mrspoonsi writes with this excerpt from Business Insider: "This morning, Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to give 18 million Facebook shares to charity by the end of the month. Facebook is currently trading at $55 per share, so Zuckerberg's gift is worth just under $1 billion. The money will go toward Zuckerberg's foundation, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and The Breakthrough Prize In Life Science, a [Nobel] Prize-like award. Zuckereberg is giving his shares away as part of a secondary stock offering from Facebook. Reuters says Zuckerberg will sell 41.4 million shares, reducing his voting power in the company from 58.8% to 56.1%. Other insiders selling include board member Marc Andreessen, who will sell 1.65 million shares. Facebook is selling 27 million."

9 of 230 comments (clear)

  1. so he gave by dale.furno · · Score: 5, Informative

    to his own charity?

    1. Re:so he gave by alexander_686 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Horrible way to avoid paying taxes.

      If MZ sold his stock he would keep 72%. Assuming his cost basis was $0 and a tax rate of 28%

      By giving his stock away he keeps 0%. I mean, yes, you do stick it to the man by not paying taxes but you would have the same effect if you burned large piles of money.

      MZ probably has other motives for giving his money away then avoiding paying taxes.

    2. Re:so he gave by Sarten-X · · Score: 5, Informative

      I used to work in finance, managing accounts for those "tax dodge" charities. It's pretty clear you don't actually know how they work.

      You're right on the surface, of course... as long as you control your own foundation, you have control over those voting rights and the development of that lot. The devil's in the details, though. You don't have control as you, but as an agent of the foundation. That means that the donated assets are not a part of your own estate, and you personally don't own them any more. You can't transfer money back to yourself (as those "fat fees" run afoul of the charity's tax-free status), you can't build a vineyard on those 40 acres, and you can't pass on the charity to your heirs.

      Those foundations are their own entities, and they must be managed separately. It's actually pretty hard to use them for your own financial gain. You can, however, use them to improve your standing in the community, but you don't really need money for that.

      --
      You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
  2. Not a charity by femtobyte · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Check the "Silicon Valley Community Foundation" web page, and you'll see it's not a charity --- it's a big-money investment firm that manages accounts for other big-money charities. This is part of the move to make "charity" a highly profitable enterprise for big business; ways to shuffle around tax-sheltered billions invested in scummy megacorporations.

  3. Re:oh boy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Gates gained a soul when he got married. Finally getting laid mellows you out.

  4. Re:oh boy... by dkleinsc · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Bill Gates, I think somewhere in his brain he wants to be altruistic for some philosophical reason, but his charity really just pumps M$ products and tries to make teachers be paid by performance.

    His charity also does a ton of good stuff in areas like public health and sanitation. He's not a saint, he may be doing it primarily as a PR move, but that's definitely doing more good for the world than having it just sitting in some trust fund for his 3 kids or something. And yes, he could have also given it to a bunch of organizations rather than creating a foundation of his own, but my impression from those who have done work in the area where his foundation operates is that they have a fairly good reputation as far as non-profits go.

    I don't like Bill Gates' business tactics. I do like what he's chosen to do with a lot of his time and money.

    --
    I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
  5. Re:oh boy... by Sarten-X · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That's actually far more insightful than I think you intended.

    Having a spouse means you're forced to consider another perspective, which in turn makes it easier to understand and empathize with others you're not related to. Life isn't just about pursuing your own goals any more, but suddenly there's a concern for helping everyone. Perhaps not all the way to meeting their goals, but at least living long and well enough to have a chance.

    --
    You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
  6. Re:oh boy... by s.petry · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Really? Gates demanding that people and governments sign long term contracts with US Agriculture and Medical corporations and not produce or grow locally as a condition of receiving his "Free" medicine is a benefit to society? Who's society are you referring to, the starving people in Ethiopia that can't grow local food any more because they received "Free vaccines"?

    Good grief man, use your head just a little. If Mr. Gates was really just "helping everyone with his money" why has his wealth continued to grow while the people he is supposedly helping go further down in poverty? Some of the vaccines being pushed overseas are illegal in numerous Western Countries after being proven harmful to recipients.

    Your view of an "awesome model" seems to be very low and abstract.

    More on topic, look for Facebook to report some major loss in value causing the stocks to drop. Zuckerberg is not the only one donating lots of stock. These people are not idiots, and didn't get to be as wealthy as they are because they are altruistic.

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

  7. Re:...what? by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Did you know that if you took all the economists in the world and laid them out, end-to-end, they still wouldn't reach a conclusion?

    --
    Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear