Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey said on Tuesday that he is donating $1 billion in equity from Square toward coronavirus relief around the world.
Dorsey made the announcement in a tweet on Tuesday afternoon, adding that after “we disarm this pandemic,” the money will go toward “girls’ health and education,” and universal basic income.
“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 girls’ health and education, and UBI. It will operate transparently, all flows tracked here,” Dorsey tweeted, adding a link to a Google Doc that he said will track the funds.
In a series of subsequent tweets, Dorsey explained his decision.
“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,” the Square and Twitter CEO continued in a Twitter thread.
Several other big tech companies have also offered donations to combat coronavirus, though less large as Dorsey’s.
Apple said it has donated $15 million worldwide; Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s foundation, which he founded with his wife Priscilla Chan, is sending $25 million to Bill Gates’ foundation to develop a treatment; and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced he would donate $100 million to help food banks amid the coronavirus emergency.
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