Can a $100 million donation counter a hit movie? That question is being asked in the wake of news that Facebook cofounder Mark Zuckerberg has given a huge gift to Newark public schools — just before the release of The Social Network movie.
The donation was to be announced on The Oprah Winfrey Show on Friday with appearances by Zuckerberg, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. On Friday night, The Social Network, which reportedly presents a somewhat unflattering portrait of Zuckerberg as he was founding the giant social-networking site in college, was to open the New York Film Festival. It’s scheduled for release into theaters on Oct. 1.
Waiting for Superman
The donation, the largest ever received by the Newark school system, comes amid reports that Zuckerberg, 26, has a net worth of $6.9 billion and is now No. 35 on Forbes magazine’s list of the 400 richest Americans. The donation is made with the intention that a match will be found. Together, the $200 million would constitute more than 20 percent of the school system’s total budget.
Many observers are suggesting that the timing of the gift is more than coincidental. Facebook has not commented, but USA Today reports that, according to a source “familiar with the situation,” the company knew the timing would look suspicious but decided to go ahead anyway. The key reason was the date planned for the Winfrey appearance, and the premiere of a new dramatic/documentary film from the director of An Inconvenient Truth, Davis Guggenheim. That film, Waiting for Superman, addresses the state of public education in the U.S. and opens Friday.
Brad Shimmin, an analyst with Current Analysis who covers social networking, said he doesn’t expect the movie to adversely affect, or the donation to positively affect, Facebook. But, he added, the donation…