SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, said Tuesday that he would donate nearly $500 million in company stock to a Silicon Valley charity with the intention of providing funds for health and education issues.

Mr. Zuckerberg donated 18 million Facebook shares, valued at $498.8 million based on their closing price on Tuesday. The beneficiary is the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works with donors to allocate their gifts.

It is Mr. Zuckerberg’s largest donation to date. He pledged $100 million in Facebook stock to Newark public schools in 2010, before his company went public this year. Later in 2010, he joined the Giving Pledge, an effort led by the Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, and the Berkshire Hathaway chief executive, Warren E. Buffett, to persuade the country’s richest people to donate most of their wealth. His wife, Priscilla Chan, joined with him.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Mr. Zuckerberg, 28, said he was “proud of the work” done by the foundation that his Newark donation set off, called Startup: Education, which has helped open charter schools, high schools and others.

With the latest contribution, he added, “we will look for areas in education and health to focus on next.” He did not give further details on what plans there may be for funds.

“Mark’s generous gift will change lives and inspire others in Silicon Valley and around the globe to give back and make the world a better place,” said Emmett D. Carson, chief executive of the foundation.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/19/technology/zuckerberg-gives-nearly-500-million-to-silicon-valley-community-foundation.html?partner=rss&emc=rss