CNBC’s Kate Rooney reports that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has committed $1 billion of his Square equity to fighting the coronavirus.
Square and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said Tuesday he will set aside $1 billion in his Square equity to support relief efforts for COVID-19 and other causes once the pandemic is over.
In a series of tweets, Dorsey said that after the pandemic is over, he will dedicate the money to causes like universal basic income (UBI) and girls’ health and education. He said he’s pulling the shares from his stake in Square instead of Twitter because he own more stock in the Square. Dorsey said he’ll cash in the shares over time.
“The impact this money will have should benefit both companies over the long-term because it’s helping the people we want to serve,” Dorsey said on Twitter.
Dorsey said that he wants to see the impact of his donation during his lifetime, and that “the needs are increasingly urgent.” He also said he hopes it will inspire others to “do something similar.”
Dorsey also tweeted a link to a public Google Doc where people can track which organizations the fund’s money will go to.
Dorsey isn’t the only technologist to fund coronavirus relief efforts, though he’s doing it on a big scale. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos has said that he is donating $100 million to U.S. food banks. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan donated $25 million toward creating treatments for coronavirus through their philanthropic organization, The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. And the Bill Gates Foundation has said it will spend billions to fight coronavirus, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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