Twitter Co-Founder Jack Dorsey Pledges $1 Billion to Covid-19 Relief and More

Jack Dorsey announced Tuesday that he will use $1 billion of his shares in Square, the payment-processing platform he co-founded, to fund relief efforts for Covid-19. The commitment is more than 25 percent of his net worth, Dorsey said in a tweet, adding that he has more equity in Square than in Twitter, which he also co-founded.

The donation will go to Start Small, the limited-liability company Dorsey started in 2015 to serve communities in need. At the time, Dorsey held nearly a quarter of the shares in Square and said he intended to give 40 million shares to Start Small in the future.

A 2018 San Francisco Chronicle investigation found that Start Small awards grants through a donor-advised fund, not a charitable foundation, and is therefore not subject to the same transparency requirements as a foundation or nonprofit would be.

In his announcement, Dorsey said that distributing Covid-relief grants through Start Small would allow him “flexibility.” He pledged openness, linking to an open-source document where he says he’ll track Start Small’s spending and revenue.

“After we disarm this pandemic, the focus will shift to girls’ health and education and UBI,” Dorsey said, using shorthand for the universal basic income.

Andrew Yang, the former tech executive and Democratic presidential candidate, also advocates for UBI. On Twitter, he praised Dorsey’s donation as “spectacular.”