Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan have revealed that their children won’t be inheriting their hundreds of billions of fortune.
The tech power couple revealed this move a decade ago after their first daughter, Maxima was born.
In December 2015, the new parents unveiled their Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) and pledged to donate 99% of their shares of Facebook (now Meta) over their lifetimes.
In an open letter entitled “Letter to Max” the couple sent a message and wrote on Facebook, “We want you to grow up in a world better than ours today. We will do our part to make this happen, not only because we love you, but also because we have a moral responsibility to all children in the next generation.”
Notably, it is a strategy that is reportedly shared by a number of modern tech titans who plan to give away their fortune instead of leaving it for their kids.
What Do Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan Plan To Do With Their Fortune?
“We understand you’ll have many questions about why and how we’re doing this… Max, we love you and feel a great responsibility to leave the world a better place for you and all children,” the letter further read.
At the time, Meta/Facebook shares were reportedly worth about $45 billion. However, today Zuckerberg alone is worth over $200 billion.
Notably, the CZI initially focused on a broader range of social causes, like statewide housing initiatives and criminal justice programs.
However, in recent years, it has changed and its core funding has been primarily focused on tech-driven causes, AI-powered biomedical and scientific research.
“We wish you a life filled with the same love, hope and joy you give us,” the pair wished in their letter.
Priscilla Chan Said Giving Back is Her ‘Life’s Mission’
In a previous interview, Chan talked about her relationship with her husband.
“Mark and I have known each other 18 years, that’s half my life,” she said.
She also talked about how giving back is important to her.
“He’s always known that giving back is my life’s mission. And very early on — as early as 2005, when it was clear that we — he — was going to make some money out of Facebook, we decided we’ve got to give back,” she said.
Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s Family Life Explored
The Meta CEO has been married to Chan since 2012. The pair met at a party in 2003 when they were both undergraduates at Harvard University.
The couple reportedly tied the knot in a surprise wedding ceremony in their backyard in Palo Alto, Calif.
Zuckerberg and Chan announced the birth of their first child in December 2015. The couple welcomed their second daughter, August in 2017. They are also parents to their third daughter, Aurelia who was born in a March 2023.
