Billionaire philanthropists
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Some of you will no doubt have heard that Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have just announced that they will give away 99% of their shares in FB to good causes to mark the birth of their daughter Max. The money will go to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative . The aim of this organisation is "to advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation". In total the sum comes to $45bn (£30bn) at Facebook's current value and will be disbursed over the course of the lifetimes of the couple. See here.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34978249
Needless to say, the Zuckerbergs will not be left penniless. Even after giving away 99% if their shares they will still be left with hundreds of millions of dollars which places them very firmly within the ranks of the capitalist class still
So what do people here make of all this? I have to say I am highly skeptical. I'm not suggesting that it just some kind of scam and the Zuckerbergs are wanting to profit from the publicity in the short term while hoping the public will eventually forget their (very) long term commitment to offload 99% of their shares in FB. They are probably quite genuine and sincere in wanting to do this. But what drives them to do this? Is it a case of wanting to convert economic capital into social and political capital? Afterall if youve got everything that money can buy in material terms there is no more virgin terrority to take possession of other than the immaterial realm.
There is a useful link here that might throw some light on these matters
Out of curiosity I visited Mark Zuckerberg FB page where the annoucement was made. I was astounded , even rather sickened, by the sheer amount of sychopancy on display. Have these people got no self respect? For a laugh I posted something about the WSM and suggested to Mark that if he was really interested in creating a better world he might do a lot worse than donate some money to the socialist cause. So if you get an anonymous cheque through the post for 1 billon dollars youve got me to blame for that. Gratifyingly someone even gave me a "like" But, no, it wasnt Mark….
As the critic Teju Cole puts it, power like theirs “supports brutal policies in the morning, founds charities in the afternoon, and receives awards in the evening”.http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/dec/02/mark-zuckerberg-and-priscilla-chans-99-pledge-is-born-with-strings-attached
Just came across this which puts a different slant on the matter http://says.com/my/news/what-no-one-is-telling-you-about-mark-zuckerberg-donating-99-of-his-fortune-to-charity
Not new is it…We have the Carnegie, Rockerfeller, Ford all in the past devoting large amounts of their wealth to "good" causes…always "good" only as defined by themselves…and all tax deductable…They are also invariably reluctant to exercise any democracy in deciding what to consider as a "good cause" choice.
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