Twitter Founder Jack Dorsey Announces $1 Billion Relief

Dorsey said the "needs are increasingly urgent" and hope this inspires others to do something similar

FILE PIC: AFP

San Francisco, April 8: After several business owners have come forward to join the fight against Covid 19 by pledging donations to agencies, Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter and payment app Square, has also announced $1 billion donation on Tuesday. In a series of Tweet, Dorsey said the "needs are increasingly urgent" and therefore he will donate $1bn in order to tackle the pandemic. The donation will comprise around 28 per cent of his wealth. Dorsey said the shares he owns in Square will be used to fund the pledge which will be distributed through the Start Small Foundation. "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," he added in the tweets.

The 43-year-old, who is the chief executive of Twitter and Square, said he is donating the shares of Square and not Twitter because he owned "a lot more" of them. The shares will be sold over time, which could impact on their value and the overall size of the donation. The US is already facing a scarcity of ventilators and personal protective equipment with businesses taken a hit due to the pandemic. From Jack Ma of Alibaba Group, Bill Gates of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, have pledged their commitment to the cause amid the spike in Covid 19 cases around the globe.  (With inputs from agency)