Comment by uptown | Hacker News Reader

Comment by uptown | Hacker News Reader

"I believe so much in the potential of this company to drive positive impact in my lifetime that over the past two years I have given over 15 million shares, or 20% of my own equity, back to both Square and the Start Small Foundation, a new organization I created to meaningfully invest in the folks who inspire us: artists, musicians, and local businesses, with a special focus on underserved communities around the world. The shares being made available for the directed share program in this offering are being sold by the Start Small Foundation, giving Square customers the ability to buy equity to support the Foundation. I have also committed to give 40 million more of my shares, an additional 10% of the company, to invest in this cause. I’d rather have a smaller part of something big than a bigger part of something small.

We intend to make this big! Thank you for your support and potential investment in Square.

Jack"

These were probably given as options and at the current market price rather than Jack's super low strike price.

How do you make something valuable? Convince others it has value, and do it with only 20% of your stake.

Come on..

Jack already gave 15 million shares which represented 20% of his own equity back to the option pool and to a foundation to help underserved communities, and he's committed to giving an additional 40 million shares to the foundation..

He's going to give away ~75% of his ownership in the company he founded to employees and entrepreneurs in underserved communities. Whatever the price is on IPO day, this will surely amount to him giving away at least a billion dollars.

I can't fathom why people are so cynical, this is amazing.

Envy, greed, and or the general dislike of seeing other people succeed is almost always the explanation. That's why the same reaction happens over and over again, regardless of who it is that is getting rich. It's common believed that to get rich, you must take that wealth away from someone else (or otherwise do something dastardly); the limited pie of wealth fallacy.

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