Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have moved into finance, becoming “impact partners” at fintech asset management firm Ethic, which endeavours to invest only in ethical and environmentally-friendly companies.
The New York-based company Ethic reportedly has $1.3 billion under management and was co-founded in 2015 by Jay Lipman, who recently described him and his business partners Doug Scott and Johny Mair as being like “hippies, in a way”.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made the announcement during an interview with The New York Times on Tuesday, with Meghan saying of Prince Harry: “My husband has been saying for years, ‘Gosh, don’t you wish there was a place where if your values were aligned like this, you could put your money to that same sort of thing?’”
The Duke of Sussex told the American newspaper in comments reported by The Telegraph: “You already have the younger generation voting with their dollars and their pounds, you know, all over the world when it comes to brands they select and choose from.”
In a notice on the website of their non-profit Archewell, the couple wrote: “We believe it’s time for more people to have a seat at the table when decisions are made that impact everyone. We want to rethink the nature of investing to help solve the global issues we all face.
“Our impact partnership with Ethic is one of the ways we put our values in action.”
Ethic said its founders were “so excited that they’re joining us as impact partners”.
“They’re deeply committed to helping address the defining issues of our time—such as climate, gender equity, health, racial justice, human rights, and strengthening democracy—and understand that these issues are inherently interconnected. So much so, in fact, that they became investors in Ethic earlier this year and have investments managed by Ethic as well,” the assessments management firm continued.
The Daily Mail reports predictions that the Sussexes could be on their way to developing a $1 billion brand since they resigned as working royals at the beginning of 2020.
Prince Harry already has two other jobs that align him with his social justice values, that of chief “impact officer” of a San Fransisco coaching startup called BetterUp that focuses on “mental fitness”, and as a member of a commission on “information disorder” at the American think tank the Aspen Institute.
The couple has also made deals with media giants Netflix and Spotify believed to be worth around £100 million.
The woke royals said upon departing from the British monarchy that they wanted “to become financially independent”. However, it seems that financial independence was too great a prospect initially for the Duke, who alleged bitterly during the bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview in March of this year that his family had “literally cut me off financially” in the first financial quarter of the year, around three months after the couple announced they were leaving the Firm.
Royal sources speaking to the media in the immediate aftermath of the interview flatly rejected the claims that Prince Charles had cut off funds to his son, saying: “It was a surprise to hear he’d been cut off, given the bank statements. The prince continued to provide Harry and Meghan with financial support after their move to America, while they found their feet.”
In June, a spokesman for Clarence House, the formal residence of the Prince of Wales, confirmed that Prince Charles had continued to support his son during his transition to financial independence, allocating them “a substantial sum”, but that funds stopped from around April after Meghan and Harry had become financially stable.
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