Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg pledges $45bn giveaway

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c16f957e-9872-11e5-95c7-d47aa298f769.html#ixzz3tAfE94gz

Mark Zuckerberg has pledged to give away 99 per cent of his Facebook shares — worth about $45bn — during his lifetime, as he announced the birth of his first child.

The Facebook founder and president said he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, were happy to welcome a daughter called Max, born early last week, into the world.

“We are committed to doing our small part to help create this world we hope she grows up in,” he wrote in a post on the social network.

Shares in Facebook were flat in after-hours trading.He launched the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a limited liability company controlled by the couple, with a stated mission to advance human potential and promote equality.

Mr Zuckerberg controls about 53 per cent of the voting rights of Facebook, through his holding of 419m Class B shares, which carry 10 votes each, and about 4m Class A shares.

He plans to sell or gift no more than $1bn of Facebook stock a year for the next three years and intends to retain his majority voting position for the foreseeable future, Facebook said in a filing.