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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is about to become a father, and he’s decided to take two months of parental leave when the new baby arrives, he shared on his Facebook page Friday.
Facebook offers its employees up to four months of leave, which can be taken anytime up to a year after their baby is born, so it’s possible Zuckerberg could take more time in smaller doses later on. But the post implied that he’ll be stepping away from the office for two consecutive months — a pretty significant amount of time — once his wife, Priscilla Chan, gives birth.
“Studies show that when working parents take time to be with their newborns, outcomes are better for the children and families,” Zuckerberg wrote. “Every day things are getting a little more real for us, and we’re excited to start this next stage in our lives.”
The decision is a personal one, but as we noted earlier this month, Zuckerberg is in an interesting position as a leader in the tech community. Parental leave has become an important topic in Silicon Valley, and Zuckerberg’s decision will certainly set a precedent for other top executives — both male and female — to follow.
It’s not entirely clear who will take the reins at Facebook while he’s gone, although it’s tough to imagine he’ll be completely out of reach (he lives in nearby Palo Alto). Longtime Facebook execs COO Sheryl Sandberg and Head of Product Chris Cox have been Zuckerberg’s key lieutenants, so it’s likely they’ll hold the fort in the interim.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
