Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, unveils USD 2 billion philanthropic fund

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the richest person on the planet, said Thursday he was creating a philanthropic fund to help homeless families and launch preschools in low-income communities, committing an initial USD 2 billion to the cause.

Bezos made the announcement on Twitter a year after asking for ideas on how he could use his personal fortune -- now estimated at more than USD 160 billion -- for charitable efforts.

The "Bezos Day One Fund" created by Bezos and his wife MacKenzie will focus on two areas: helping "existing nonprofits that help homeless families" and funding "a network of new, nonprofit, tier-one preschools in low-income communities," he wrote.

For the homeless, grants will be given to organizations "doing compassionate, needle-moving work to provide shelter and hunger support to address the needs of young families," Bezos said.

The fund will also seek to launch and operate "a network of high-quality, full-scholarship, Montessori-inspired preschools in underserved communities," he wrote.

"We will build an organization to directly operate these schools." Bezos said the schools would "use the same set of principles that have driven Amazon" and that "the child will be the customer."