Jeff Bezos announces $2 billion charity focused on homelessness, preschool education

Jeff Bezos has a new mission, and he's throwing $2 billion into the mix to get it started.

Bezos and his wife Mackenzie have launched the Bezos Day One Fund to fight homelessness and fund preschool education, the Amazon founder announced Thursday. It's the biggest charitable contribution yet from the world's richest man.

Bezos' $167 billion net worth makes him one of a handful of the world's wealthiest people who hasn't joined The Giving Pledge, which devotes signers to giving a majority of their money away over the course of their life. Instead, Bezos tweeted last June that he'd rather help people "here and now," asking for suggestions to spark his philanthropic activity. A year later, Bezos has revealed two areas he's decided to focus his giving on.

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So in a Thursday tweet, Bezos announced the two-part Day One Fund, which appears to be his flagship charity. The Day 1 Families Fund will benefit existing nonprofits that provide "immediate" assistance and shelter to needy families. The Day 1 Academies Fund will run "a network of high-quality, full-scholarship, Montessori-inspired preschools in underserved communities."

It's all aimed at making future generations' lives better than the ones we lead today, Bezos said. Read his full statement below. Kathryn Krawczyk