Mark Zuckerberg is Giving Away His Money, but With a Twist
http://fortune.com/2015/12/02/zuckerberg-charity/?XID=MozillaFortune_Bnews_ZuckerbergCharity
Mark Zuckerberg’s pledge to his new daughter is an impressive one: Namely, that he and his wife Priscilla Chan will give away 99% of their net worth in their lifetime, as described in an open letter to their new offspring. That works out to about $45 billion, based on the current value of Facebook stock.
The Facebook co-founder is using a somewhat unusual structure in order to fulfill his charitable pledge, however—one that gives him more control over what happens to the money he is promising to give away, but still provides tax benefits.
As BuzzFeed and others have pointed out, the charitable foundation Zuckerberg and Chan have set up is a limited-liability corporation, not a charitable trust. Some in the tech and media community have criticized this as making the announcement less obviously charitable, but others note that it will enable the Facebook co-founder to do things that charitable trusts are not allowed to do.
That flexibility could make the foundation more effective, although it could also benefit the Zuckerberg family more than a traditional trust.
(More at above url)
http://fortune.com/2015/12/02/zuckerberg-charity/?XID=MozillaFortune_Bnews_ZuckerbergCharity
Mark Zuckerberg’s pledge to his new daughter is an impressive one: Namely, that he and his wife Priscilla Chan will give away 99% of their net worth in their lifetime, as described in an open letter to their new offspring. That works out to about $45 billion, based on the current value of Facebook stock.
The Facebook co-founder is using a somewhat unusual structure in order to fulfill his charitable pledge, however—one that gives him more control over what happens to the money he is promising to give away, but still provides tax benefits.
As BuzzFeed and others have pointed out, the charitable foundation Zuckerberg and Chan have set up is a limited-liability corporation, not a charitable trust. Some in the tech and media community have criticized this as making the announcement less obviously charitable, but others note that it will enable the Facebook co-founder to do things that charitable trusts are not allowed to do.
That flexibility could make the foundation more effective, although it could also benefit the Zuckerberg family more than a traditional trust.
(More at above url)
