Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan welcome daughter Max with promise to donate '99% of Facebook shares'

Zuckerberg had previously agreed to Microsoft founder Bill Gates' pledge to donate half of his wealth

Mark Zuckerberg, wife Priscilla Chan and daughter, Max

Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan have welcomed a baby daughter named Max.

The couple, who married in 2012, also said intend to donate “99 per cent” of their Facebook shares – worth approximately $45 billion – to “advancing human potential and promoting equality”.

In a post on the social media platform he founder, Zuckerberg wrote: “Like all parents, we want you to grow up in a world better than ours today.”

“As you begin the next generation of the Chan Zuckerberg family, we also begin the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to join people across the world to advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation,” the open letter continues.

“Our initial areas of focus will be personalized learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities.”

The social media tycoon, personally worth an estimated $44 billion, added while he and Chan were committed to spending their lives playing a “small part” to resolve the challenges, he would “continue to serve as Facebook’s CEO for many, many years to come”.

Zuckerberg has previously said he would follow Microsoft founder Bill Gates’ initiative The Giving Pledge, agreeing to donate half of his fortune.

The Facebook post has already been linked by tens of thousands of people – among them Gates’ own wife Melinda and Arianna Huffington, of the Huffington Post.