Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey will donate $1bn of his personal wealth to coronavirus relief

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8198307/Twitter-founder-CEO-Jack-Dorsey-donate-1bn-personal-wealth-coronavirus-relief.html

By Frances Mulraney and Wires
Published: 20:13 EDT, 7 April 2020 | Updated: 20:30 EDT, 7 April 2020

Twitter co-founder and chief executive Jack Dorsey said Tuesday he was committing $1 billion of his personal fortune to coronavirus relief through his philanthropic fund.

Dorsey, 43, revealed in a series of tweets that he would transfer his equity in his digital payments group Square to his limited liability corporation Start Small, contributing around 28 percent of his overall wealth.

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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 created a foundation as well as the Start Small LLC.

The model is similar to that established by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in his Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, allowing for flexibility in funding startups and efforts a foundation may be ineligible to fund.

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A document link tweeted by Dorsey showed the new fund had already pledged $100,000 to a new initiative called America's Food Fund launched by Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Jobs, and actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

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Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has pledged $100 million to help food relief efforts during the pandemic, and Zuckerberg has offered more than $25 million to help research through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Gates Foundation last month pledged $125 million for research but is believed to be investing more in a variety of projects.

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