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Netflix CEO Reed Hastings Starts $100M Fund for Education

Hastings has been a longtime supporter of childhood education and in the past has given millions to start charter schools.
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Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings wants more children to have access to a good schools. To that end, the tech billionaire announced Tuesday he has started a $100 million philanthropic fund for kids’ education.

Hastings said in a Facebook post that the Hasting Fund's first two gifts, totaling $1.5 million, would go to the United Negro College Fund and the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley for college scholarships for black and Latino youth.

"I’m so blessed to be able to do this, and I hope to do more in the future. Thanks to all of you who are Netflix members or employees for making this possible," he said.

Hastings is a longtime supporter of childhood education and in the past has given millions to charter schools.

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He’s among a number of wealthy tech execs who have pledged a portion of their wealth to improve and expand learning opportunities for young people.

Related: 5 Years Later, Zuckerberg Says $100M Newark School Donation a Success

Perhaps the most notable is Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who along with his wife Priscilla Chan donated $100 million to the public school system in Newark, New Jersey, in 2010. More recently, they announced they would open a private school for underprivileged children in East Palo Alto, California, that Chan would head. The power couple also said they would commit 99 percent of their Facebook shares on philanthropic projects over the course of their lifetimes.