Twitter CEO Donates $1 Billion To COVID-19 Relief Efforts
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 15: Jack Dorsey attends WIRED25 Summit: WIRED Celebrates 25th Anniversary With Tech Icons Of The Past & Future on October 15, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for WIRED25 )
Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, has just donated a massive amount of money to fund coronavirus relief efforts. He made the news public on Twitter, writing, "I’m moving $1B of my Square equity (~28% of my wealth) to #startsmall LLC to fund global COVID-19 relief. After we disarm this pandemic, the focus will shift to girl’s health and education, and UBI. It will operate transparently, all flows tracked here." He also attached a Google Doc showing proof of his donation.
In a string of tweets, the CEO also goes into detail about why he chose to withdraw funds from Square and why he is making his efforts public. He explains, "Why the transparency? It’s important to show my work so I and others can learn. I’ve discovered and funded ($40mm) many orgs with proven impact and efficiency in the past, mostly anonymously. Going forward, all grants will be public." He also says, "Why pull just from Square and not Twitter? Simply: I own a lot more Square. And I’ll need to pace the sales over some time. The impact this money will have should benefit both companies over the long-term because it’s helping the people we want to serve."
Jack lastly adds, "Why now? The needs are increasingly urgent, and I want to see the impact in my lifetime. I hope this inspires others to do something similar. Life is too short, so let’s do everything we can today to help people now."
