Giving Compass' Take:

• Experts in the philanthropy world think that the recent Bezos Day One  Fund will be the first of ongoing charitable donations that we will see from Jeff Bezos. 

• Why has Bezos waited so long to start donating? What should be the next steps for him as a philanthropist? 

•  Read a more critical take on the Jeff Bezos' Day One Fund. 

Jeff Bezos is very likely just getting started.

The Amazon founder and chief executive said on Twitter Thursday that he and his wife, MacKenzie, would establish a $2 billion philanthropic fund aimed at addressing homelessness and early childhood education—a long-awaited move from the richest man in history. But everything in his brief statement, including the initiative's name, Bezos Day One Fund, and the size of his pledge, imply that this is the tip of the iceberg for the tech pioneer’s charitable legacy.

“I think there’s already a question about what is going to happen next, because he has a fortune that can easily support giving much, much more,” says Amir Pasic, dean of Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Bezos’s pledge is significant in dollar terms, but represents only 1.2% of his total net worth, which Forbes estimates around US$161 billion.

There’s also a growing list of business leaders signing their names to The Giving Pledge, a challenge from Gates and billionaire investor Warren Buffet that the ultra-affluent commit more than half their wealth to charity. Today, more than 180 of the world’s wealthiest have made the pledge.

His use of the term “fund” leaves the mechanism for his $2 billion gift up to interpretation. He could plan to invest that amount and use the interest for his two charitable causes or spend the full amount, Pasic says. And while the initial fund might be small compared to Bezos’s peers, his announcement is likely to give those two causes a significant boost.

Read the full article about Bezos' charity by Beckie Strum at Barron's