Mark Zuckerberg named top US philanthropist

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan have been named joint top US philanthropists. Their made the $970m donation to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a charity that manages and distributes charitable funds. They gained the accolade after a donation of 18 million Facebook shares to a Silicon Valley foundation. More than $970m was the largest in the US in 2013 donation worth.

Over the past two years, Mr Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have donated about 36 million Facebook shares to the Silicon Valley foundation. Funds have broadly been distributed to education and health, with $5m being distributed to a health clinic in East Palo Alto. The gift outstripped philanthropists such as Bill and Melinda Gates, the Chronicle of Philanthropy said.