I think her first mistake was assuming that the fund was something other than a tax avoidance scheme.<p>At the same time, I don't think it unreasonable for it to take seven months of due diligence to find a worthy recipient. Let's say you announce something many, many orders of magnitude smaller: "I've got $1000 to give away to the first 10 people that write me a nice letter stating why I should give it to them." How many seconds before your inbox starts bouncing "mailbox full" messages? At Earth Fund levels, the smarminess must be overwhelming.
When Bezos announced the fund via Instagram, he said that he would 'begin issuing grants this summer'. Summer ended 6 days ago. I'm going to out on a limb and suggest that this concern might be <i>a tad</i> premature.<p>I have zero doubt that Bezos will spend the money he said he would, and much more. It's straight out of the mogul handbook. It's what Rockefeller, Carnagie, and Gates did, and many more before them. Bezos has made a name for himself as a (ruthless) businessman, and now he wants to make a name for himself as a philanthropist. The man did not announce a fake 10B fund to gain momentary praise. He will give away this money (and much, much more) because he wants to <i>build himself a legacy.</i><p>As of now, he's six days behind schedule. If he hasn't made in grants in a year or two, <i>then</i> it might be time to give him shit. But six days? C'mon.