Here's Why Jack Dorsey Is Donating $5M To Andrew Yang's Universal Income Initiative

Twitter Inc. TWTR and Square Inc. SQ Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey on Thursday said he was committing $5 million to Andrew Yang's non-profit organization Humanity Forward.

The funding is part of the $1 billion in Square shares Dorsey committed to novel coronavirus (COVID-19) relief efforts, girl child education, and universal basic income in April.

UBI A Floor For People To Stand On, Dorsey Says

Dorsey has been a long-term backer of the idea of a universal basic income, something that was central to Yang's Democratic presidential campaign for 2020.

In an episode of Yang's podcast "Yang Speaks" published Thursday, Dorsey credited the former presidential candidate for bringing the idea to the mainstream.

The Twitter CEO said that a lot of people across industries are going to lose jobs to automation powered by developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning, and, to him, the concept represents a "floor."

"A floor that people can stand on, and have the knowledge and peace of mind that they could survive and eat and feed their children while they are learning how to transition into this new world," Dorsey told Yang.

The billionaire also referred to the way federal coronavirus relief funds were distributed as a "tragedy." A lot more of the money should have gone directly to individuals, rather than corporates or banks, he said.

Dorsey Plans To Donate All His Money

Yang told Rolling Stone that Dorsey's funding would be used to immediately distribute cash grants of $250 each to about 20,000 individuals who have taken economic impact from the pandemic.

"Not only will Jack's donation directly impact tens of thousands of people in need during the current economic downturn, it will help Humanity Forward and our movement continue to make a case for universal basic income in the United States," Yang said in a statement to Rolling Stone.

According to Dorsey, the $1 billion fund and his commitment to a universal basic income is part of his larger goal to ease people's pain through both personal means, or through his companies.

"I want to give out all my money in my lifetime. I want to see the impacts, selfishly, in my lifetime," Dorsey told Yang. "I want to make sure that we're helping people."

The entrepreneur has been tracking his funding in a Google Sheets document, according to which he has dispersed $85 million so far, as earlier noted by CNBC.

Price Action

Twitter shares closed 0.3% higher at $32.34 on Thursday and traded further higher in after-hours at $32.50.

Square closed nearly 0.7% lower at $81.49 in the regular session. The shares traded 0.6% higher in the after-hours session at $82.

Image Credit: Screenshot of Andrew Yang's podcast.