Priscilla Chan (philanthropist)

Priscilla Chan

Priscilla Chan in 2013
Born 1985 (age 30–31)
Braintree, Massachusetts, U.S.
Residence Palo Alto, California, U.S.
Ethnicity Chinese-American
Citizenship American
Education Quincy High School
Harvard University
University of California, San Francisco (M.D.)
Occupation Pediatrician
Spouse(s) Mark Zuckerberg (m. 2012)
Children 1

Priscilla Chan (born 1985) is an American pediatrician and philanthropist. She is the wife of Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder and CEO of Facebook. As of 2015, she and her husband have pledged more than $1.6 billion to charities. In December 2015, they pledged to donate 99% of their Facebook shares, valued at $45 billion, to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a philanthropic and political action company that focuses on health and education.

Biography

Chan was born in Braintree, Massachusetts,[1] and grew up in Quincy, outside Boston. Her parents were ethnic Chinese refugees[2] who fled Vietnam in refugee boats. She grew up speaking Cantonese and served as interpreter for her grandparents. She has two younger sisters.[3] In 2003, she graduated as class valedictorian from Quincy High School, and was voted "class genius" by her classmates.[3]

Chan then entered Harvard University, where she met and began dating Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook. She graduated in 2007 with a BA in biology, and also studied Spanish. She is the first college graduate in her family.[3] After graduation she taught science at the private Harker School for a year, before entering the medical school of the University of California, San Francisco in 2008. She graduated in 2012, and finished her pediatric residency in the summer of 2015.[3] She married Zuckerberg on May 19, 2012, a day after Facebook's stock market launch.[3]

Chan and Zuckerberg announced the birth of their daughter, Maxima Chan Zuckerberg ("Max"), on December 1, 2015.[4][5][6] Chan had previously had three miscarriages, which Zuckerberg wrote about in a Facebook post.[2]

Philanthropy

Zuckerberg and Chan have pledged about $1.6 billion to charities,[7] including a donation of $75 million to San Francisco General Hospital, where Chan worked.[3] In 2013, they gave 18 million Facebook shares (valued at more than $970 million) to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. The Chronicle of Philanthropy placed the couple at the top of its list of 50 most generous American philanthropists for that year.[8] They also pledged $120 million to public schools in the San Francisco Bay Area.[2]

On December 1, 2015, in an open letter to their newborn daughter, Chan and Zuckerberg pledged to donate 99% of their Facebook shares, then valued at $45 billion, to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, their new charitable foundation with focuses on health and education.[2][7]

Chan's charitable goals focus on education, healthcare and science, which are closely tied to her personal background.[3] She is considered to have had a strong influence on the philanthropy of her husband.[2] She plans to launch The Primary School in 2016, a nonprofit organization that will provide K–12 education as well as prenatal care, in East Palo Alto, California.[3]

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Shanahan, Mark (July 30, 2010). "Mark Zuckerberg's lady friend is local". The Boston Globe.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Christina Cauterucci (December 1, 2015). "Priscilla Chan's Formidable Influence on Mark Zuckerberg's Philanthropy". Slate.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hope King (December 1, 2015). "Who is Priscilla Chan?". CNN.
  4. ↑ Lamagna, Maria (3 December 2015). "How Kim Kardashian and Priscilla Chan differ when it comes to ‘push presents’". Market Watch. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  5. ↑ Chandler, Adam (1 December 2015). "A $45 Billion Birth Announcement". The Atlantic. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan to give away 99 percent of their Facebook stock, worth $45 billion". December 4, 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Mark Zuckerberg Vows to Donate 99% of His Facebook Shares for Charity". The New York Times. December 1, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg biggest giver in 2013". USA Today. February 10, 2014.
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