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Uploaded: Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 11:45 PM
Zuckerberg donates $500 million to local foundation
Gift of stock is largest ever to Mountain View's Silicon Valley Community Foundation
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by Daniel DeBolt
Mountain View Voice Staff
Photo
 | Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Tuesday that he is giving nearly $500 million in Facebook stock to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation -- its largest donation ever.
The multi-billionaire made the announcement on his Facebook page Tuesday afternoon, saying that he and his wife Priscilla have "made a contribution of 18 million Facebook shares to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation" as part of a pledge to donate most of their wealth to charity.
The Mountain View-based foundation funds a wide range of nonprofits and charities and declined to say how the money might be spent.
With Facebook's stock price at $27.71 today, the contribution is valued at $499 million. That is slightly more than the $470 million in total donations the SCVF received in all of 2011.
"This is the Silicon Valley Community Foundation's largest single gift," said Rebecca Salner, vice president of marketing and communications for the SVCF.
It is reportedly also Zuckerberg's largest donation yet.
In his announcement on Facebook, Zuckerberg says that he and his wife signed "the Giving Pledge" two years ago, an effort started by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett which now has 81 billionaires pledging to donate most of their wealth to charities.
"Our first major project has been around education reform with Startup: Education in Newark, NJ," Zuckerberg writes in his announcement. "I'm really proud of the work we've done there, helping leaders like Governor Chris Christie and Mayor Cory Booker sign the most progressive teachers contract in our country, opening four new district high schools, 11 new charter schools and more."
"Today, in order to lay the foundation for new projects, we've made a contribution of 18 million Facebook shares to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation," Zuckerberg wrote. "Together, we will look for areas in education and health to focus on next. I'm hopeful we'll be able to have as positive an impact in our next set of projects."
The Foundation was tight-lipped about the donation, issuing a brief statement.
"Mark's generous gift will change lives and inspire others in Silicon Valley and around the globe to give back and make the world a better place," said Emmett D. Carson, CEO of Silicon Valley Community Foundation. "We are pleased and honored that he has chosen to continue to partner with us to help him achieve his philanthropic goals."
Zuckerbeg, who draws a $1 a year salary from Facebook, had an estimated net worth of $9.5 billion earlier this year, according to Forbes magazine.
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Posted by Neighbor, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Dec 19, 2012 at 10:49 am Thank you, Mark and Priscilla, for setting a good example for others!
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Posted by CrescentParkResident, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Dec 19, 2012 at 10:51 am I only hope that the charity doesn't go on a spree to give the executives and staff raises. A lot of non-profits spend too much on compensation.
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Posted by TipAndRing, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Dec 19, 2012 at 11:05 am CrescentParkResident,
Are you always a wet blanket?
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Posted by Matt, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Dec 19, 2012 at 11:27 am CrescentParkResident, do you have any data for that? Or are you just taking a few widely reported abuses and tarring a whole category. I am on the board of three local non-profits in the area and know many others. The staffs are not well paid at all. They do it out of dedication to the mission. Cheap shots like yours don't help. If you have data, use it. Otherwise ask yourself if you are really doing any good.
Well done Mark and Priscilla.
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Posted by Ronald L., a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Dec 19, 2012 at 11:55 am and thank you for not creating "Zuckerberg Towers" at 27 University.
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Posted by Sarah, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Dec 19, 2012 at 12:08 pm What a wonderful thing to do! Thank you both for your efforts and
your money and your effort to try to build up others so they thrive and contribute to our society in a positive fashion.
We need more absurdly wealthy people to do the same!
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Posted by Anonymous, a resident of Stanford, on Dec 19, 2012 at 12:12 pm [Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]
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Posted by question, a member of the Palo Alto High School community, on Dec 19, 2012 at 1:22 pm Question: can the foundation cash out of the stock holding now and get the cash to be in a position to make huge grants- or are they required to hang onto the stock?
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Posted by Huh?, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Dec 19, 2012 at 2:36 pm "The Mountain View-based foundation funds a wide range of nonprofits and charities and declined to say how the money might be spent."
Sounds vague to me. Their website has a lot of stuff about how to donate money. What they do with it is anyone's guess...
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Posted by musical, a resident of the Palo Verde neighborhood, on Dec 19, 2012 at 3:48 pm I hadn't been aware of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation until now. Looks like a good solution for people (or corporations) who have more money than they know what to do with. Meaning most of us can donate $100 here and $100 there hoping it is spent effectively. But if we had serious life-changing money to spare, then we might want some guidance and professional vetting of the recipient charities or causes.
And this kind of money is not handed out all at once. It is invested with the intention that the earnings and part of the principal gets donated each year for the life of the endowment which could be perpetual. I presume the Foundation will sell the Facebook shares in an orderly fashion and add the funds to its present $2 billion managed portfolio. Zuck can direct where his share of the donations go each year or leave it up to a committee. I trust that somebody will correct me here if I've oversimplified or am all wet.
Learn about the Silicon Valley Community Foundation at Web Link
Says their endowment has been earning 12% annually over the past 3 years. They made over 10,000 grants in 2011 totaling almost a quarter billion. I perused the list and found big dollars to such as the Red Cross, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Khan Academy, Lucile Packard Foundation, several environmental organizations, Second Harvest, Boys & Girls Clubs, and on and on. And internationally to dozens of other countries.
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Posted by Sharon, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Dec 19, 2012 at 4:07 pm Thank you for being such generous mensches with your mulitple Chai donation.
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Posted by Resident, a resident of the Green Acres neighborhood, on Dec 19, 2012 at 10:23 pm What a great thing to do Mark and P. Many thanks for leading by example.
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Posted by Mom, a resident of the Green Acres neighborhood, on Dec 20, 2012 at 11:14 am Thank you, Mark and Priscilla, we feel blessed that you are a part of the community. Silicon Valley Community Foundation will I'm sure do great things with your gift!
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Posted by SuperD, a resident of the Community Center neighborhood, on Dec 20, 2012 at 11:40 am Thanks Zuck!
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Posted by Nayeli, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Dec 21, 2012 at 10:08 am This is fantastic news! Kudos to Mark and Priscilla for doing this!
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Posted by Anonymous, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Dec 21, 2012 at 6:27 pm Now ask Zuck to reign in in his sister's reality show on TV
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