Mark Zuckerberg Names His Baby Girl Max & Announces $45 Billion Donation

Update: Zuckerberg took to Facebook on Thursday to thank his well-wishers and encourage people to learn more about the initiative, following criticism of how it will be structured. In it, he wrote: "I want to thank you all for your heartwarming congratulations on Max's birth and on starting the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative...Our initial focus areas are personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities. We've already made many investments over the past five years in these areas — education, science, health, internet access and inclusion — and you can see a summary of our investments on the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative page timeline..." He goes on to explain the foundation's LLC designation: "By using an LLC instead of a traditional foundation, we receive no tax benefit from transferring our shares to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, but we gain flexibility to execute our mission more effectively." He ends with: "This community has been amazing and we're excited to get started on this work together when we're back from parental leave!"

This article was originally published on December 1, 2015. Last week, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's wife, Priscilla Chan, gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Max. Mazel tov! Zuckerberg announced the news and shared a photo of the new family via a post on his Facebook page Tuesday. Zuck also posted a heartfelt note about his hopes for the child. "Your new life is full of promise, and we hope you will be happy and healthy so you can explore it fully," Zuckerberg writes. "You've already given us a reason to reflect on the world we hope you live in. Like all parents, we want you to grow up in a world better than ours today." He goes on to talk about what needs to happen to make that better world: We need to promote equality, advance human potential, and make long-term investments, among other things. You can view the whole letter here. In addition to his lengthy message to his daughter (and the universe), Zuckerberg announced that he and his wife plan to donate 99% of their Facebook stocks — that's roughly $45 billion right now — to improving the world for the next generation. Zuckerberg has been refreshingly open about his journey into fatherhood. When the duo announced Priscilla's pregnancy in July, they openly talked about their difficulties conceiving and the fact that they struggled through several miscarriages. Now that baby Max has arrived, Zuckerberg plans to take a two-month paternity leave.