Mark Zuckerberg will maintain control over Facebook, despite the vow to gift 99% of his and wife Priscilla Chan’s shares to causes of their choosing.
The founder and CEO shocked the tech world – and the world at large – on Wednesday by pledging to donate shares worth $45 billion to charity under the newly formed Zuckerberg Chan Initiative.
The planned philanthropic gesture, announced alongside the birth of the couple’s first daughter, will take place over the course of the pair’s lives and reach multiple causes.
Naturally, among all of the warm and fuzzy feelings, such a pledge potentially has huge ramifications for Facebook as a company.
As such, the publicly traded firm quickly made a filing to the SEC, stating Zuckerberg’s intention to maintain his majority voting position at the company.
The filing explained that Zuckerberg intends to dispense of no more than $1 billion in Facebook stock in each of the next three years.
The filing announcing the CEO’s decision reads: “For this purpose, Mr Zuckerberg has established a new entity, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, LLC, and he will control the voting and disposition of any shares held by such entity.
“He has informed us that he plans to sell or gift no more than $1 billion of Facebook stock each year for the next three years, and that he intends to retain his majority voting position in our stock for the foreseeable future.”
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
