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Facebook’s Zuckerberg: $100M to education

Palo Alto-headquartered Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced yesterday that he is donating $100 million toward improving public schools in Newark, New Jersey. Newark Mayor Cory Booker told Oprah Winfrey on Friday that Zuckerberg at first wanted the donation to be anonymous, but was convinced to make it public in the hope that others would be inspired to donate as well.

Zuckerberg’s net worth is estimated to be $6.9 billion. He ranked 35th on this year’s Forbes 400 list of richest Americans, up from 158th last year. At age 26, he and Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz are the youngest billionaires on the Forbes list.

Some (“look-gift-horse-in-the-mouth“) people have questioned the timing of the announcement – one week before the release of the movie, “The Social Network,” which is based on the book, The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich. Neither the book nor the movie depict Zuckerberg in the most favorable light. CNN quotes Pete Cashmore, CEO of social media blog Mashable:

“Skeptics might question the timing of the move, but it would be foolish to underestimate the significance of the gesture — not only in its direct impact on public schools, but in its lasting imprint upon the technology industry.”

I agree and prefer to judge the SIGNIFICANT charitable act on its own merits. Not all billionaires choose to spend their money to help others. Zuckerberg was raised in Westchester County, New York and founded Facebook in 2004 while studying computer science at Harvard University.

Newark Mayor Booker said that 50% of high school students in Newark do not graduate. Newark public schools have been in the hands of the state since 1995. An agreement between Mayor Booker and Governor Christie will authorize the mayor to develop a comprehensive plan for education, while legal control remains in the hands of the state of New Jersey.

-Bill at

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