Beijing, Dec 3: China’s billionaires came under pressure from netizens to contribute to their social causes after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg decided to donate the majority of his wealth to a charity initiative set up along with his Chinese wife Priscilla Chan.
Chinese people have showered Zuckerberg with praise after the 31-year-old magnate announced Tuesday following the birth of the couple’s daughter that he would donate 99 per cent of his Facebook shares, worth about $45 billion.
“He’s really a special tycoon, living in an ordinary house, wearing ordinary clothes, and finds an ordinary-looking wife,” another Weibo user wrote.
Under the hashtag “Zuckerberg donated 99 per cent of his shares,” the topic had garnered around 5 million views since it was posted Wednesday, state-run Global Times said in its report featured on the front page.
Some pointed out the marked contrast between US entrepreneurs and their Chinese counterparts who are accused of being stingy.
“The wisest person donates his money to medical care. I hope the tycoons and celebrities in China can pay more attention to the environment, healthcare and education, buy fewer luxury race cars,” one Weibo user wrote.
Others mentioned the reluctance of many of China’s wealthy to attend a dinner hosted by Warren Buffett during a 2010 trip to China to promote philanthropy.
China this year has beaten the US for the first time in the number of dollar billionaires whose numbers have climbed to 596 over America’s 537, the most in the world, despite a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy. PTI
1.Philanthropy has been thriving in the US for more than a century, while it is relatively new in China
2.Chinese entrepreneurs argue that they have limited resources and cannot focus on philanthropy right now
3.Alibaba founder Jack Ma said the priority of Chinese entrepreneurs should be to use their money for investment, create more jobs and wealth