Zuckerberg and Icahn join Buffett and Gates on giving pledge list

Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook, may be the world’s youngest billionaire. But he’s already pledging to give away most of his wealth, reports DealBook. He and 16 other households have joined the Giving Pledge, a campaign by Bill Gates and Warren E. Buffett to commit wealthy individuals to giving away at least half of their holdings during their lifetimes or after their deaths.

“People wait until late in their career to give back,” Mr. Zuckerberg, 26, said in a statement. “But why wait when there is so much to be done?”

(If the recent valuations of Facebook are to be believed, he’ll have a lot to give away. Forbes recently estimated his net worth on paper at $6.9 billion.) Among the other new signatories to the pledge are the billionaire investor Carl C. Icahn, the former Drexel Burnham Lambert bond maven Michael R. Milken and the former AOL chief executive Stephen Case. A few other financiers have joined the cause as well, including Theodore J. Forstmann, Leon G. Cooperman and Nicolas Berggruen……Read More

Facebook adjusts privacy controls after complaints

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that "a lot of people are upset with us."
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that "a lot of people are upset with us."

In Facebook’s vision of the web, users no longer would be alone and anonymous. Sites would reflect users’ tastes and interests—as expressed on the online social network—and users wouldn’t have to fish around for news and songs that interest them.

Standing in the way, however, is growing concern about privacy from Facebook users, a large percentage of whom are high school and college-age students. Most recently, users have complained that the site forced them to share personal details with the rest of the online world or have them removed from Facebook profiles altogether.

Responding to users’ concerns, Facebook on May 26 announced that it’s simplifying its privacy controls and applying them retroactively, so users can protect the status updates and photos they have posted in the past.…Read More