SoftBank Will Start $100M Fund To Help Minorities Of Color In US

SoftBank Group Corporation SFTBY will set up a $100 million fund that will provide opportunities to Afro-American and Latin entrepreneurs. 

What Happened

The CEO of the Japanese conglomerate Masayoshi Son said tweeted on Wednesday in Japanese using the hashtag Black Lives Matter.

Son said that the fund would help Afro-American and Latino entrepreneurs who had been hindered from success due to social injustices. The SoftBank chief executive described racism as a “tragedy,” reported Nikkei Asian Review.

Why It Matters

Marcelo Claure, SoftBank's COO, said in a letter to employees that the fund’s focus will be on companies “that use technology to disrupt traditional business models.”

Claure revealed that the fund would not charge a traditional management fee but instead “will seek to put as much capital as possible into the hands of founders and entrepreneurs of color," reported the Review.

SoftBank already runs a $100 billion Vision Fund that invests in startups globally. Last month, it came to light that the fund suffered operating losses to the extent of $17.7 billion.

Business leaders have been making benefactions to causes that espouse minorities’ rights after the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a white policeman on May 25. 

Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter Inc. TWTR is donating $3 million to Know Your Rights Camp, a legal defense initiative supported by NFL player Colin Kaepernick, while Alphabet Inc. GOOGL GOOG CEO Sundar Pichai announced that the company is giving $12 million in grants to organizations that promote racial equity.

SoftBank Price Action

On Wednesday, SoftBank OTC shares closed 1.29% lower at $23.73. The company’s shares traded 1.29% higher at $47.57 at press time in Tokyo on Thursday.