US Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has announced that he will donate 1 billion dollars from his fortune to fund the anti-COVID 19 investigation. Forbes estimates Dorsey's fortune at about $ 3.3 billion, and he says his donation is about 28% of the total value of his fortune. It is by far the largest donation in the world to treat coronavirus pandemic.
43-year-old Dorsey, who co-founded Twitter in 2006 and later creator the Square payment company, announced from his personal account on Twitter, that he will put the amount of 1 billion (28% of his property) in its own non-profit fund, Start Small, where a large part of the funds will end up in the effort made to deal with the pandemic. Dorsey, however, did not specify how much of the money would be used for this purpose.
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
"Why now? Because the needs are more and more urgent, and I want to see the impact it will have on my life. I hope this will inspire others to do the same. Life is too short, so let's do what we can today to help people now," said Dorsey.
Why now? The needs are increasingly urgent, and I want to see the impact in my lifetime. 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. ✌🏼
— jack (@jack) April 7, 2020
"Once we disarm the pandemic, we will focus on girls' health and education. It will operate transparently, "Dorsey wrote.
Why UBI and girl’s health and education? I believe they represent the best long-term solutions to the existential problems facing the world. UBI is a great idea needing experimentation. Girl’s health and education is critical to balance: https://t.co/dC3dU6hvxB
— jack (@jack) April 7, 2020
The richest man in the world, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, with a fortune of about 123 billion dollars, has said he will donate $ 100 million to Feeding America organization.
Also, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (creator of Microsoft) and has donated $ 100 million to develop a vaccine against coronavirus and other treatments.
The same amount has been promised by the founder of the American computer company Dell, Michael Dell.
Jeremy Farrar, the director of the London-based medical research charity, commented that "the only exit strategy" would be a massive investment in scientific research as it's the only way to save millions of lives and drag the global economy out of an inevitable recession.
"The only exit strategy for this that I see is the development of diagnostics, therapies, and vaccines," he noted. "That's the only way we can return to normal."
Farrar informed chief executives of the world's largest companies that pledging funds to the Welcome Trust's COVID-Zero Funds "is the best investment your business can make today."
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