Not even the top CEOs in the tech industry could resist participation in the Ice Bucket Challenge.The viral challenge, where people dump a bucket of ice water over their head, kicked off earlier this year, and is helping to raise awareness for ALS, known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Once completed, participants then challenge three others to either do the same or make a donation to the national ALS Association.
On Wednesday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie completed the Ice Bucket Challenge, and urged Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to follow suit.
Zuckerberg accepted. “That was really cold,” he says after soaking himself with a bucket of ice water. Zuckerberg also selected three people to take on the challenge: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg.
It didn’t stop there. Here’s Twitter CEO Dick Costolo taking the plunge (or the dump, in this case). Bonus points for the branded t-shirt.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who went big with his nominations to take on the Ice Bucket Challenge: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Google CEO Larry Page.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere went one step further, getting doused by multiple buckets of ice water as opposed to just one. He also challenged the CEOs of wireless rivals AT&T, Sprint, TechReleased and Verizon to join him.
And here’s AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega. Props for keeping it professional by sticking with the dress shirt and tie.
And, yes, Apple CEO Tim Cook did it, too. So who did he challenge to get doused? Disney CEO Bob Iger and Apple’s newest employee: Dr. Dre.
The Ice Bucket Challenge has had a big impact on ALS awareness in a very short time. Since late July, the ALS Association has raised $2.3 million.