Zuckerberg Baby's Birth Comes With a $45 Billion Surprise

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, announced the birth of their daughter Max on Facebook. But that's not all.
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Courtesy of Mark Zuckerberg/Facebook

It's a girl!

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have given birth to a baby girl named Max. Zuckerberg announced the new arrival in, of course, a Facebook post, accompanied by a Facebook Notes letter to the new little lady in his life. In it, Zuckerberg writes that he and Chan will donate 99 percent of their Facebook shares – currently about $45 billion – over the course of their lives "to join many others in improving this world for the next generation." The new parents have also launched the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which has the broad mission of "advancing human potential" but will focus specifically on personalizing learning, curing disease, connecting people, and building strong communities.

In the letter (which, to be honest, seems like it was written more for us than for little Max) Zuckerberg also laid out his vision—in extensive detail—for the world he hopes Max will inherit, a world in which Facebook plays an increasingly central role. The letter covers Zuckerberg's passion for giving the world access to the Internet and the investments he and Chan have made in education, and it paints a rosy view of a world that has—especially recently—felt utterly grim:

"While headlines often focus on what's wrong, in many ways the world is getting better. Health is improving. Poverty is shrinking. Knowledge is growing. People are connecting. Technological progress in every field means your life should be dramatically better than ours today. We will do our part to make this happen, not only because we love you, but also because we have a moral responsibility to all children in the next generation."

We're pumped to watch the young CEO navigate the intricacies of parenthood while sitting atop one of the world's biggest companies. Already, he's made some bold statements about parenthood in the modern age, from bravely sharing the couple's struggles with several miscarriages to announcing that he would take two months paternity leave, setting a precedent about the importance of family leave.

But one question still remains: Will Zuckerberg share one zillion photos of his kids on Facebook, too? Tech CEOs. They're just like us.