- Twitter co-founder and chief executive Jack Dorsey said Tuesday, through his philanthropic fund, he pledged $1 billion of his fortune to alleviate coronavirus.
Twitter co-founder and chief executive Jack Dorsey said Tuesday, through his philanthropic fund, he pledged $1 billion of his fortune to alleviate coronavirus.
In a series of tweets, Dorsey said he would pass his money to his limited liability company Start Small in his digital payment business Square, contributing about 28 percent to his total income.
“Why now? Needs are becoming ever more urgent and I want to see the effect in my lifetime,” said Dorsey.
“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.” The move could be the largest from a single individual for coronavirus relief and comes with the pandemic spanning the globe and inflicting a heavy toll in lives and economic devastation on the United States.
Dorsey said that after the pandemic ends, the fund would focus on health and education for girls and “universal basic income” efforts.
Dorsey, who is CEO of both Twitter and Square, has built a foundation as well as the Start Small LLC — a model similar to that developed in his Chan-Zuckerberg initiative by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, to allow flexibility in funding startups and initiatives that a foundation may not be able to support.
“Why is #startsmall an LLC? This section dedicates my shares to these causes, and offers versatility,” said Dorsey.
The new fund had already pledged $100,000 to a new initiative called America’s Food Fund initiated by Laurene Powell Jobs, Steve Jobs ‘widow, and actor Leonardo DiCaprio, a document link tweeted by Dorsey suggested.
Net worth for Dorsey is valued at around $3 billion, including his Twitter and Square interest.
He said he wanted to use his equity from the payment company because “I own a lot more in Square.” “The long-term effect that this investment would have will benefit all businesses because it benefits the customers we want to represent,” he said.
Other development leaders have vowed a large number of relief efforts.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has pledged $100 million to help with food relief efforts during the pandemic, and Zuckerberg has provided more than $25 million through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help research.
Last month the Gates Foundation promised $125 million for science but is expected to spend more on a variety of projects.
