Mark Zuckerberg gives 99% of his Facebook shares to charity

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan have more to celebrate as they welcomed their newborn daughter into their life. As part of the happy celebration, Zuckerberg pledges to donate 99 percent of his shares in Facebook to charity.

USA Today reported that the couple decided to donate the money from selling of the stock to an effort to "advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation."

According to the current price of the company's stock, the total pledge made by Zuckerberg means he will be donating $45 billion.

The couple's intention was mentioned in a letter to their newborn daughter which was made public.

In their letter to their daughter, the couple said, "We know this is a small contribution compared to all the resources and talents of those already working on these issues. But we want to do what we can, working alongside many others."

The announcement has been followed by the relevant filing with the SEC as Zuckerberg had made a filing with the regulator to give away no more than $1 billion in stock annually for the next three years, according to the CNN Money.

However, the social media founder will still keep a majority of the shares and still gives him the biggest voting right in the company based on his stake in Class A shares.

According to a source by Reuters, Zuckerberg's controlling stake in the social media company worth around $303 billion as of Tuesday.

Total voting right own by him is around 54 percent as he holds 4 million shares in Class A and another 422.3 million in Class B shares.

The couple signed the Giving Pledge just a few years after Zuckerberg success with Facebook. The pledge is an initiative that invites other wealthy people around the world to donate more than half of their fortune for charity purpose. Donation given can be in the form of will or given throughout their life.

The announcement which was posted online on Zuckerberg's Facebook page is also attracting the attention of other artists and philanthropist including billionaire investors, Warren Buffet and the wife of Microsoft founder, Melinda Gates.

Warren Buffet, who is known for his continuous philanthropy had donated a considerable amount of his fortune to his own foundation, including his best friend's foundation, the Gates foundation.

Buffet also posted on his Facebook account noting that the effort made by the couple is amazing saying, "On behalf of future generations, I thank them."