He’s single-handedly creating generations of wealth!
Billionaire Robert Smith brought students to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to ring the opening bell commemorating his “One Stock. One Future.” initiative, Black Enterprise reports.
This past October, billionaire Robert Smith launched the “One Stock. One Future” initiative to create 1 million Black and Latinx youth shareholders and investors. To kick things off, Smith presented students, staff, and faculty members from Eagle Academy, a NY/New Jersey college prep network, with a total of 15,000 shares of stock.
In his presentation, he named the recent grads of the Morehouse Class of 2019, whose student loan debt Smith famously paid off, as partners in his gift to Eagle Academy. To celebrate, Smith took students from the Academy, members of his team from Goalsetter, an app that delivers the educational component of the initiative, and members of the Morehouse Class of 2019 to the NYSE to ring the opening bell.
“Our Class of 2019 at Morehouse, our team at Goalsetter, our team now at Eagle Academy, you all are a part of an ecosystem of economic development. You’re part of an ecosystem of self-empowerment. [And] you now have partners like the New York Stock Exchange that you can look to and look for help and guidance on how we create more access to capital and opportunity into our communities,” Smith said.
In the 30 days since the initiative’s launch, 1,000 companies have each pledged to donate 1,000 shares, including Delta Airlines, Twitter, Lyft, and NBCUniversal. Smith said this is only the beginning, and while Eagle Academy students are the first beneficiaries of the program, they sure won’t be the last. He hopes that through his efforts and Goalsetter’s social-media-inspired teaching methods, he will empower students to begin a wealth-creation journey that will benefit generations to come.
“The executives in these companies – doesn’t have to be just the CEO, or African-American and Latinx executives- can all contribute 1,000 shares. It’s a wonderful feeling to know that you’ve empowered the youth to participate in what will be the greatest wealth creation opportunities for them, which is the capital markets in America,” Smith said.
Thank you, Mr. Smith, for just continuing to raise the bar! Because of you, we can!
Photo Courtesy of Goalsetter