By now, we've probably all seen at least one of our Facebook friends voluntarily submit to having a bucket of ice water dumped on their head. Or perhaps you've noticed #IceBucketChallenge trending on Twitter. But why?
The challenge is intended to raise money for ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. You dump a bucket of ice water on your head and challenge someone (or several people) to do the same within 24 hours or donate $100 to the cause.
In many cases, people do both. In fact, The ALS Association reported today that it has raised $9.5 million since July 29, compared to $1.6 million during the same time period last year. While it might seem silly, there's no denying that the challenge has raised awareness - and funds - for ALS research.
Not surprisingly, a number of tech heavyweights have accepted the challenge, and challenged their high-tech counterparts to do the same. Check out some of Silicon Valley's brightest being doused by cold water below; we'll update as more people accept.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Zuckerberg was challenged by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who worked with the Facebook CEO on funding for Newark schools. Zuckerberg accepted and challenged Bill Gates, Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg, and Netflix chief Reed Hastings.
Zuckerberg was challenged by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who worked with the Facebook CEO on funding for Newark schools. Zuckerberg accepted and challenged Bill Gates, Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg, and Netflix chief Reed Hastings.
Bill Gates
Microsoft founder Bill Gates accepted Zuckerberg's challenge (after watching the video on a Surface Pro 3, natch) in a cute video that finds him engineering the perfect water dump. Gates, in turn, challenges Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, Ryan Seacrest, and Chris Anderson of TED.
Satya Nadella
Back at the company Gates founded, new CEO Satya Nadella took one for the team, and nominated Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Google's Larry Page to step up.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos
Bezos accepted the challenge during a company-wide meeting, standing in a small plastic pool. He challenged William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, and George Takei.
Apple CEO Tim Cook
Cook was nominated by Apple's senior vice president of marketing, Phil Schiller, and he accepted during an outdoor gathering at Apple headquarters. Cook nominated new Apple employee Dr. Dre, Disney CEO and Apple board member Bob Iger, and musician Michael Franti, who was playing at the town hall and accepted the challenge immediately.
Twitter chief Dick Costolo used one of his company's products - Vine - to complete the challenge in six seconds. He nominated Carl Quintanilla of CNBC.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere
Quintanilla accepted Costolo's challenge and in turn nominated John Legere. The head of the un-carrier narrowly avoided having his company acquired by Sprint, but he couldn't avoid the ice bucket challenge. Legere accepted, and nominated the CEOs of rival telecom firms - Lowell McAdam from Verizon, Randall Stephenson of AT&T, and Marcelo Claure of Sprint.
AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega
At AT&T, it was AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega who accepted the challenge - in a suit. He challenged his own team to do the same.
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