• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, January 3, 2020

Apple CEO Tim Cook made a $2 million donation to an unnamed charity in late December.

The donation — 6,880 shares of Apple stock — was identified in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing released Thursday.

A tweet he sent Wednesday might reveal his state of mind and give insight into the type of charity that might have received the donation.

“There is opportunity in every new beginning,” he wrote. “In 2020 let’s use it to lead with our humanity, to protect and strengthen our planet, and to build a future we’d be proud to pass on. Happy New Year!”

Technology leaders — those who run companies that generate revenue from online advertising and consumer data, as well as entrepreneurs — have come under fire for their wealth of late. Cook’s latest donation comes during a time when U.S. presidential candidates such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are proposing solutions including a wealth tax.

A federal wealth tax is one possible solution proposed by presidential candidates. Sanders in September 2019 released an aggressive proposal — The Tax on Extreme Wealth — promising to cut the wealth of billionaires in half over 15 years. Sanders told The New York Times in an interview that billionaires should not exist.

Cook is not even noted as one of the top wealthiest people in the world, according to the Forbes top list.

At the time of Cook’s donation the shares were worth $1.99 million, according to 9To5Mac, which first spotted the SEC filing. The share price has since risen to $300.35 per share.

It’s not the first time that Cook has donated a large sum of Apple stock. In mid-2019, Cook donated 23,700 worth of Apple shares. In 2014, he donated to an LGBT equality campaign. Apple, the company, donates to disaster relief efforts, and PRODUCT(RED), according to one report.

In 2015, Cook said he would donate his entire fortune to charity.

Separately, on Thursday Apple and U.K. chip designer Imagination Technologies announced a new license agreement. Imagination makes and licenses intellectual property for semiconductor System-on-Chips, and supports the development and manufacturing of Digital Audio Broadcasting radios.