SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- Twitter's CEO and co-founder is setting aside $1 billion in stock to establish a philanthropic venture focused initially on global relief efforts for the COVID-19 pandemic
Jack Dorsey says the money will come from equity in digital payments company, Square, which he also co-founded.
Dorsey will transfer that equity to a charitable company called "Start Small" to distribute the funds.
The first grant from start small is $100,000 for America’s food fund to provide meals to people impacted by coronavirus.
It's not clear how much of the money will go to COVID-19-related causes.
Dorsey did say after the pandemic is over, he will concentrate on supporting girls' health and education, as well as universal basic income.
"Why UBI and girl’s health and education?" wrote Dorset on Twitter. "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."
Dorsey's move comes after amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates each pledged $100 million to coronavirus relief.
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
