Twitter founder, Jack Dorsey has said he will donate $1 billion (approximately Ksh100 billion) to help in the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic.
According to Mr. Dorsey, who is also the founder of Payment app, Square, the donation represented approximately 28 percent of his wealth.
The 43-year-old, who is the CEO of Twitter and Payment Square, said he was using his shares from square, as he owned a lot more of them. The shares will be sold overtime and thus impact the value and size of the donation.
Mr Dorsey said that ‘the needs were increasingly urgent’ and that the donation would be made through a limited liability company.
Read: COVID-19: Jack Ma Donates Ventilators To Kenya Amid Pressure On Local Billionaires To Act
Many wealthy individuals use the same tool although it is often criticized for lack of transparency. To counter this, the Twitter boss posted a google docs link where the funds could be publicly tracked.
In a six-part tweet, Mr. Dorsey said he wanted to donate to various causes that could make an impact in his lifetime.
“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 girl’s health and education, and UBI. It will operate transparently,” he wrote.
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 girl’s health and education, and UBI. It will operate transparently, all flows tracked here: https://t.co/hVkUczDQmz
— jack (@jack) April 7, 2020
A number of tech billionaires have joined in the fight against the Coronavirus Pandemic. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Founder and CEO, committed $30 million (Ksh3 billion), to aid in efforts to create a treatment.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder, committed $100 million (Ksh10 billion) to food banks in aid of those facing hunger during this period.
Apple CEO, Tim Cook, said that the company would donate medical aid to Italy, which was worst hit by the pandemic.
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