The Billionaires Backing Colleges, From Musk to Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg and his spouse, Priscilla Chan, created The Main College in 2016 by way of their philanthropy, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. The schooling-free non-public faculty stated in April 2025 that it would shut by the top of the 2026 educational yr.

The Main College is a tuition-free non-public faculty with places in East Palo Alto and East Bay, California. In accordance with its web site, it serves lots of of scholars and works to extra intently join dad and mom, academics, and medical and psychological well being professionals.

The varsity’s web site highlights range, fairness, and inclusion, and its closure was introduced on the similar time a few of Zuckerberg’s different ventures rolled again DEI efforts. Meta dropped a lot of its DEI initiatives in January 2025, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative ended its personal DEI efforts one month later.

A message asserting the closure on the college web site says that the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will make investments $50 million in surrounding communities within the coming years, together with financial savings plans for soon-to-be former college students and “transition specialists” for households.

Zuckerberg and Chan bumped into points with one other faculty they ran in California, because the New York Occasions first reported. A spokesperson for Palo Alto, Meghan Horrigan-Taylor, confirmed to BI that town acquired a code violation criticism on the property “concerning use as a non-public faculty with no conditional use allow.” She stated town now not thinks the college is working at that location.

A spokesperson for Zuckerberg and Chan informed BI that it isn’t a non-public faculty however a homeschooling operation that started in the course of the pandemic. State affidavits do not permit for a distinction between a homeschool and a typical non-public faculty, they stated, and added that folks educate most of the topics, the spokesperson stated.

Zuckerberg and Chan plan to maneuver the kids to a location exterior of their house, in accordance with the spokesperson, who stated metropolis officers have confirmed that homeschooling is allowed in residential zones in Palo Alto.

“They worth being members of the group and have taken a lot of steps above and past any native necessities to keep away from disruption within the neighborhood,” the spokesperson stated of Zuckerberg and Chan.

Zuckerberg was price $255.8 billion as of August 21, in accordance with Forbes.