#var paragraph = content as Paragraph; #var textChunk = chunk as TextChunk; #// #// -->By John Letzing, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Facebook Inc.’s 26-year-old Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has joined a second group of donors committed to giving the majority of their wealth to charity, by signing on to a project launched by famed investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates.
Zuckerberg is one of more than a dozen others who have signed on to the “Giving Pledge” launched by Buffett and Gates earlier this year, the organization announced Thursday.
Zuckerberg joins a list of wealthy donors many years his senior, including Oracle Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!orcl/quotes/nls/orcl (ORCL 29.26, +0.03, +0.10%) Chief Executive Larry Ellison and former IAC/InterActive Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!iaci/quotes/nls/iaci (IACI 30.15, +0.11, +0.37%) CEO Barry Diller.
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Gates remains chairman at Microsoft /quotes/comstock/15*!msft/quotes/nls/msft (MSFT 27.08, -0.15, -0.55%) , though he has stepped back from his day-to-day duties in favor of his charitable work.
In addition to Zuckerberg, the new group signing on to the Giving Pledge on Thursday includes Zuckerberg’s Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, high-profile activist investor Carl Icahn and former AOL /quotes/comstock/13*!aol/quotes/nls/aol (AOL 25.20, -0.23, -0.90%) Chief Executive Steve Case.
“With a generation of younger folks who have thrived on the success of their companies, there is a big opportunity for many of us to give back earlier in our lifetime and see the impact of our philanthropic efforts,” Zuckerberg said in a statement.
Buffett added: “In just a few short months we’ve made good progress. The Giving Pledge has re-energized people thinking about philanthropy.”
Zuckerberg, who stared social-networking service Facebook as a Harvard University student in 2004, was earlier this year listed by Forbes as #212 among the world’s billionaires, with an estimated net worth of $6.9 billion.
However, because Facebook has yet to offer its shares on public markets, the CEO’s wealth is still largely theoretical.
According to SharesPost, which provides an exchange for shares in private companies, Facebook is now being valued at more than $43 billion.
Though not an exact comparison, that valuation would make Facebook roughly twice as valuable as older rival Yahoo Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!yhoo/quotes/nls/yhoo (YHOO 16.94, -0.01, -0.06%) , and more than 10 times as valuable as AOL.
Zuckerberg has already demonstrated an eagerness to give to charitable causes.
In September, he made a high-profile commitment to give $100 million to Newark, N.J., public schools.
John Letzing is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco.
2010-12-09
Facebook CEO to give fortune to charity - MarketWatch
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