Why Mark Zuckerberg and Satya Nadella Drenched Themselves in Ice-Cold Water

As part of an ongoing campaign for raising awareness and money to fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took the 'Ice Bucket Challenge' and poured a bucket of ice water over their heads.

Zuckerberg was challenged by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who had himself taken the challenge earlier. The Facebook founder further challenged Bill Gates, Sheryl Sandberg and Reed Hastings for the Ice Bucket Challenge.

People taking 'ALS Ice Bucket Challenge' have to pour a bucket of ice water over their heads within 24 hours of receiving the challenge, or make a donation to the ALS Association in the same time period. The foundation says people could do both - take the challenge as well as make a donation, and most tech luminaries seem to have done just that. Those who successfully complete the challenge can challenge others.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also accepted the Ice Bucket Challenge on Wednesday and poured a bucket of ice water on his head. Nadella further challenged Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Google's Larry Page to do the same.

Joining the list of tech executives taking Ice Bucket Challenge, Apple's Senior VP of Marketing, Phil Schiller also took the challenge on Wednesday and shared images on Twitter. Schiller further taking the challenge asked actor Chris O'Donnell and Apple CEO Tim Cook to do the same.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo also accepted the challenge and share the Vine he created in the process:

The ALS Association in a post on Tuesday said, "Everyone from Ethel Kennedy to Justin Timberlake has poured a bucket of ice water over his or her head and challenged others do the same or make a donation to fight ALS within twenty-four hours. Between July 29 and today, August 12, The ALS Association and its 38 chapters have received an astonishing $4 million in donations compared to $1.12 million during the same time period last year."

"We have never seen anything like this in the history of the disease," said Barbara Newhouse, President and CEO of the ALS Association. "We couldn't be more thrilled with the level of compassion, generosity and sense of humour that people are exhibiting as they take part in this impactful viral initiative."