Where does one find freedom these days? A billion dollar Silicon Valley tech company now appears to be the answer. Mr S was delighted to read in the Wall Street Journal this afternoon that Prince Harry, 36, will be taking up his first formal job post-Megxit as the chief impact officer at tech start up BetterUp in California.
The Duke of Sussex will be providing ‘proactive coaching’ for personal development, increased awareness and ‘an all-round better life’ at the startup which provides professional coaching, mental health advice and ‘immersive learning.’ BetterUp was founded in 2013 and recently raised $125m from international investors to fund expansion which valued the company at $1.7bn. Heraldic symbols and royal lions out, tech unicorns in it seems.
BetterUp says it employs some 2,000 coaches and has 300 business clients including Hilton, Mars, Nasa and Chevron with a focus on ‘changing the world by bringing the power of transformation to each and every person.’ Its employees, it claims, ‘are empowered to go above and beyond to reach their best self.’ On the day the news of Harry’s appointment emerged, BetterUp was advertising on its website ‘Ways to build an inclusive team in 2021’. Mr S thinks that hiring a prince is certainly an, errr, original way of doing that…
In an emailed response to the WSJ’s questions, Harry wrote: ‘I intend to help create impact in people’s lives. Proactive coaching provides endless possibilities for personal development, increased awareness, and an all-round better life.’ He will be ‘advocating’ on mental health topics and initiatives including charitable contributions and product strategy decisions.
This news does of course come just three weeks after Harry and Meghan’s joint interview, in which the former complained that the royal family had ‘literally cut me off financially’ after the couple said they would stop being working royals. With this new formal position at a private sector company alongside multi-million dollar deals to supply content to Netflix and Spotify, the couple appear to now have the financial security they craved.
Mr S wishes Harry the best of luck speaking his truth to corporate America.
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