Rumors Say Mark Zuckerberg Will Give FaceBook Users 4.5 Million: True or False?

To announce their new baby, Max, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, posted an open letter to their infant daughter on Facebook. In the eloquent message he explains that he and his wife will donate 99% of their Facebook shares to "advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation." It was not long after this another message went out starting a rumor that Zuckerberg would also give $4.5 Million to 1000 Facebook users as well. So is it true or false?

As usual Snopes.com did their homework and they found this particular rumor to be the latest in a long line of copy and paste hoaxes that have been around ever since Facebook went live.

According to Adweek, the message reads, "THANK YOU, MARK ZUCKERBERG, for your forward-thinking generosity! And congrats on becoming a dad!Mark Zuckerberg has announced that he is giving away $45 billion of Facebook stock. What you may not have heard is that he plans to give 10% of it away to people like YOU and ME! All you have to do is copy and paste this message into a post IMMEDIATELY. At midnight PST, Facebook will search through the day's posts and award 1000 people with $4.5 million EACH as a way of saying thank you for making Facebook such a powerful vehicle for connection and philanthropy."

Since the fake post appeared, it has been copied and pasted all over social media by Facebook users, just in case the rumor might be true and Zuckerberg actually turns out to be this kind of generous. Unfortunately, all the spamming in the world will not get you that money because all of it is being put into Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, LLC. This will allow the couple the freedom they need to donate to a large variety of charitable organizations.

Some have questioned Zuckerburg and Chan's motives behind putting the money into an LLC instead of a non-profit charity fund, but the couple stands firm on their decision. Doing so will still require them to pay capital gains taxes when they sell their stocks, and it will not give them the luxury of receiving a tax break. It seems that Zuckerburg and Chan's only goal really is to ensure the future their daughter will grow up in is a bright and happy one.

Sadly, for normal every day Facebook users like us, this means we will not be seeing any part of the $45 billion worth of stocks Zuckerburg and his wife will donate over the course of their lives to ensure future generations have a better world to live in than our own. Of course, if you prefer to look at it more positively, he is effectively giving $45 billion to the future of every child, yours and mine included.