SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – After making their fortunes from new software or social networks, some Silicon Valley entrepreneurs have vowed to apply their skills to “hacking” philanthropy and “disrupting” old models for funding charity.
Not so Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, who isn’t afraid to take a more conventional approach to giving.
Local officials will gather in San Francisco this weekend to dedicate a new public hospital building, furnished and equipped in part by a $75 million gift from Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, a pediatrician who did medical training at the old San Francisco General Hospital – now to be known as the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.
The 31-year-old social media mogul, worth an estimated $46 billion, made waves with his earlier forays in philanthropy – in particular, a controversial $100 million donation to public schools in Newark, New Jersey. This time, though, Zuckerberg and Chan made a comparatively traditional donation that funded the purchase of cutting-edge equipment for treating some of San Francisco’s poorest residents. It’s not exactly “Move fast and break things,” Facebook’s early slogan.
“I’d say that we’re trying to help people” rather than disrupt philanthropy, Zuckerberg said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press. “Just like anything else you want to do well, investing in social-good projects takes practice,” he added. “This is the reason why we’re starting when we’re young.”