Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Wednesday announced a $2 billion philanthropic fund to finance a new network of preschools and contribute to nonprofits assisting homeless families.
Bezos said on Twitter that the schools would be located in underserved communities and would be operated by his new Bezos Day One Fund.
{mosads}“We’ll use the same set of principles that have driven Amazon,” he said in his statement. “Most important among those will be genuine, intense customer obsession. The child will be the customer.”
Bezos, who Forbes estimates is worth $163 billion, is the wealthiest person in modern history. The announcement comes as the Amazon founder is visiting the capital for a speech at The Economic Club of Washington on Thursday.
He and his wife, MacKenzie, recently made their first major political donation, giving $10 million to a super PAC dedicated to helping veterans in both parties get elected to Congress.
In his Thursday announcement, Bezos said that the new fund would issue annual leadership awards to civic groups helping homeless families.
A spokeswoman for Amazon did not offer further details on the new project.