While there is nothing surprising about a billionaire looking to protect his interests through political action, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg seems to be using his wallet and influence in a considerably more altruistic manner.
As the Associated Press reported last month, Zuckerberg and others plan to start a political action group in the near future. In an Op-Ed piece that appeared late yesterday afternoon in The Washington Post, Zuckerberg spelled out the goals of the group that will be called Fw.us (pronounced “forward us”).
The aim of the group will be revamping immigration policy, boosting education and encouraging investment in scientific research. As the Senate begins looking at proposed immigration reform in the coming weeks, Zuckerberg has firmly thrown himself into the breach of this contentious issue.
“We have a strange immigration policy for a nation of immigrants,” Zuckerberg wrote. “And it’s a policy unfit for today’s world.” Zuckerberg and his associates are clearly behind a move to allow undocumented workers a path to citizenship. In his piece he continued, “….comprehensive immigration reform that begins with effective border security allows a path to citizenship and lets us attract the most talented and hardest-working people, no matter where they were born.”
Touching on the additional aims of the group Zuckerberg wrote, “My great-grandparents came through Ellis Island, my grandfathers were a mailman and a police officer. My parents are doctors. I started a company. None of this could have happened without a welcoming immigration policy, a great education system and the world’s leading scientific community that created the Internet.”
I’ve often struggled with a bit of a perceived “God Complex” from Mr. Zuckerberg but couldn’t agree more with the points he laid out in this Op-Ed piece. No word was given as to whether or not the piece was written while wearing one of his many black hoodies.
Once again, he’s not alone as the founder of Fw.us. Joining him are technology entrepreneurs and investors, including John Doerr at venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and LinkedIn Corp. CEO Reid Hoffman, according to the Fwd.us site. The organization has offices in Silicon Valley and Washington.
Additionally, the group will be financially supported by Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) chairman Eric Schmidt, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) CEO Reed Hastings, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) CEO Marissa Mayer, SpaceX and Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) CEO Mark Pincus and former Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) CEO Andrew Mason among others opening their checkbooks.
