In a recent tweet, Twitter’s Chief Executive Jack Dorsey pledged $1 billion in Square Inc. stocks to various charitable causes, focusing on coronavirus relief efforts. This donation would make up about 28% of the tech mogul’s total wealth, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The tweet also includes a link to a Google Document, which allows people to see where all of the money is going.
While many people have stepped in to donate to coronavirus relief efforts — both Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos have pledged $100 million — NBC reports Dorsey’s $1 billion donation is the largest amount pledged by an individual to date, despite the fact that Bezos and Gates hold the first and second spots on Forbes’ 2020 billionaires list, while Dorsey is ranked 804th.
Dorsey has already picked a few organizations, such as America’s Food Fund, and has vowed to shift the fund to girl’s health and education, as well as research into a Universal Basic Income, after the COVID-19 pandemic passes. He’s also encouraging people in need to send him their own requests for funding, donating at the grassroots level.
Forbes reports the money comes from Square stocks, as Dorsey is a co-founder of Square and owns a large portion of it, rather than Twitter, of which he only owns 2%.
People with suggestions for charities, individuals, countries, hospitals and other venues for Dorsey’s massive fund should simply respond to the CEO on Twitter, Square representatives told TechCrunch.