Jack Dorsey is making what may be the largest private gift to tackling the coronavirus and its consequences, pledging to spend up to $1 billion as part of an unexpected philanthropic push which gives him numerous tax benefits as well as control of the cash from the sale of his stock.
The founder of Twitter and Square announced Tuesday that he would move $1 billion of his own money into a limited liability company (LLC), where the funds would go, in part, to addressing the Covid-19 crisis. Dorsey described the gift as intended to “fund global COVID-19 relief,” but didn’t specify how much of the money would be earmarked for that as opposed to pushing for “girls’ health and education” and a universal basic income, which he said the LLC, called Start Small, would back once the pandemic subsides.