Mark Zuckerberg to donate $500 million to Silicon Valley Community Foundation

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg is donating almost $500 million in shares of the world’s largest social network to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

The gift to the nonprofit group, which had $2 billion in assets in 2011, is to “lay a foundation for new projects,” Zuckerberg said on Tuesday in a statement posted on his Facebook page. The executive and his wife, Priscilla , signed a pledge two years ago committing the majority of their earnings to charity.

The Silicon Valley Community Foundation provides grants for local needs and brings together “diverse groups of problemsolvers” to address them. It also manages corporate and individual charitable funds.

“Mark’s generous gift will change lives and inspire others in Silicon Valley and around the globe to give back and make the world a better place,” Emmett Carson, CEO of the foundation, said. “We are pleased and honored that he has chosen to continue to partner with us to help him achieve his philanthropic goals.” The couple’s first gift focused on education reform in Newark, New Jersey, with a group called Startup: Education.