- Jack Dorsey, CEO of Square and Twitter, announced that he will be donating $1 billion worth of his equity in Square to Start Small Foundation in order to combat the effects of COVID-19
Jack Dorsey, CEO of Square and Twitter, announced that he will be donating $1 billion worth of his equity in Square to Start Small Foundation in order to combat the effects of COVID-19. Start Small is an entity Dorsey created for charitable purposes. Dorsey made the announcement on Twitter:
Why pull just from Square and not Twitter? Simply: I own a lot more Square. And I’ll need to pace the sales over some time. The impact this money will have should benefit both companies over the long-term because it’s helping the people we want to serve.
— jack (@jack) April 7, 2020
In the tweet, Dorsey pointed out that the donation about currently equates to about 28% of his net worth. Dorsey is estimated to have a net worth of somewhere between $3.3 billion and $3.7 billion.
Biz Carson pointed out in a Forbes article that Start Small is a donor-advised fund, which does not have to disclose where the investments were directed. However, Dorsey created a public Google Sheet that will show how the $1 billion will be spent. In the Google Sheet, you can already see that Dorsey made a $100,000 donation to America’s Food Fund.
“Why is (Start Small) a LLC? This segments and dedicates my shares to these causes, and provides flexibility. Grants will be made from Start Small Foundation or the LLC directly based on the beneficiary org. All transfers, sales, and grants will be made public in tracking sheet,” wrote Dorsey in a tweet.
Dorsey decided to use his wealth from his shares in Square for the donations since he owns a lot more of that company.
After the COVID-19 relief effort, Start Small will shift the focus to the health and education of girls and universal basic income. Dorsey said that these issues represent the best long-term solutions to the “existential problems facing the world.”
Why is Dorsey setting up this donation now? “The needs are increasingly urgent, and I want to see the impact in my lifetime,” wrote Dorsey in a tweet. “I hope this inspires others to do something similar. Life is too short, so let’s do everything we can today to help people now.”
Featured photo credit: Jack Dorsey via Twitter
