Jack Dorsey has donated $1 billion to help aid in the fight against coronavirus. The Twitter CEO made the announcement in a tweet on Tuesday, offering up some details on how the money will be allocated. He also explained how the money will be utilized after the pandemic has subsided.
“I’m moving [$1 billion] of my Square equity (~28% of my wealth) to [Start Small] LLC to fund global COVID-19 relief,” Dorsey tweeted. “After we disarm this pandemic, the focus will shift to girl’s health and education, and UBI. It will operate transparently,” he added along with a link to a Google Doc that specifies the transfer of funds. There’s also a link to the GoFundMe for America’s Food Fund, which has raised about $13.5 million of its $15 million goal as of Tuesday.
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I’m moving $1B of my Square equity (~28% of my wealth) to #startsmall LLC to fund global COVID-19 relief. After we disarm this pandemic, the focus will shift to girl’s health and education, and UBI. It will operate transparently, all flows tracked here: https://t.co/hVkUczDQmz
— jack (@jack) April 7, 2020
Though Dorsey’s contribution is unprecedented, quite a few celebrities have made public donations to various causes and charities aimed at helping slow the spread of coronavirus. Drew Brees has donated $5 million to Louisiana to aid them in their fight against the pandemic, while Rihanna has also donated $5 million through her non-profit, Clara Lionel Foundation. Dolly Parton has also donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University, just to name a few.
“My longtime friend Dr. Naji Abumrad, who’s been involved in research at Vanderbilt for many years, informed me that they were making some exciting advancements towards research of the coronavirus for a cure,” Parton wrote on April 1, encouraging her fans to donate as well.
Along with monetary donations, people are helping out in other ways. Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem donated crates of medical supplies to the La Paz hospital in Madrid, Spain, while a number of medical series are donating their currently unused props to medical officials on the front lines.
As of Tuesday, there have been 386,817 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., with 12,285 deaths and 20,191 recoveries, according to Johns Hopkins University. For information on how to stay safe and healthy during the pandemic, they offer a list of tips on their website.
