I think her first mistake was assuming that the fund was something other than a tax avoidance scheme.
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.
On the flipside: Mackenzie Scott (formerly Bezos) announced $1.67bn dollars of grants in 14 months. It is entirely possible to give money away rapidly if that’s your priority. It also massively reduces the friction for grant recipients, who don’t have to invest vast amounts into applications and can just get to work.
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.