This effort will drive corporate collaboration with local grassroots community organizations to help achieve scalable projects that can be rolled out across the country wherever inequity exists. American investor, inventor, engineer, philanthropist, entrepreneur. ", "Inspiring Female Founders In The Beauty Industry", "Suzanne McFayden Wiki: Facts about Billionaire Robert F. Smith's Ex-Wife", "How Robert F. Smith, the Wealthiest Black American, Is Making Change", "The World's Billionaires (2016 ranking): #688 Robert Smith", "Real Housewives of Malibu Part 2: Yolanda Hadid Foster sells to Robert & Hope Smith for nearly $20 million", "Billionaire Robert Smith Is Buyer Of Record-Breaking $59M New York Penthouse", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_F._Smith_(investor)&oldid=1130578664, Pages using infobox person with multiple spouses, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 30 December 2022, at 22:11. The two previously knew each other as titans in the business specter. [39][40], The reports state that Brockman's proposal was a "take-it-or-leave-it offer". [1] He advised on merger and acquisition activity with companies such as Apple and Microsoft. Robert F. Smith in Berlin, February 2018 (, https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2021/04/06/jay-z-kanye-west-and-tyler-perry-seven-richest-african-americans/4579811001/, https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/19/business/robert-smith-billionaire-morehouse-gift-trnd/index.html, https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2021/2/24/robert-f-smith-talks-black-philanthropy-systemic-change-and-addresses-tax-scandal, https://books.google.com/books?id=nBaqDAAAQBAJ&q=Robert+Frederick+Smith+1962&pg=PT71#v=snippet&q=Robert%20Frederick%20Smith%201962&f=false, https://robertsmith.com/about-robert-f-smith/, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/472396669/02_2021_prefixes_47-47%2F472396669_201911_990PF_2021021317706243, https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/472396669_201911_990PF_2021021317706243.pdf, https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/472396669_201711_990PF_2018120715985020.pdf, https://robertsmith.com/2-percent-solution/, https://robertsmith.com/southern-communities-initiative/, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-21/billionaire-robert-smith-fighting-u-s-criminal-tax-inquiry, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8816479/Billionaire-befriended-Trumps-inner-circle-investigation-dodging-taxes.html, Fund II Foundation 2012 Election Cycle. At one point, we were having daily conference calls with him and his team. Vista Equity partners, has officesin Austin, Chicago, Smith and his wife bought a $20 million Malibu mansion. Raise community awareness & adoption of Emergency Broadband Benefit: increase door-to-door and community outreach in low-income neighborhoods to get households onto EBB to help connect ~35K unconnected households, Estimated impact (of all initiatives): 48K households get connected to high-speed internet to unlock ~$700M in economic potential for Jefferson County. The gift will support an undergraduate scholarship fund to provide at least 7 students a year from urban high schools with up to $45,000 in grants, in addition to setting up a graduate fellowship fund to support 12 masters students and five doctoral students who attended historically black colleges and universities. Offer technical assistance expertise: partner with the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance (CRBA) to advise/mentor ~200 MBEs on capital/loan access to help them scale from <$10M to $50M+, 3. 5. [31][37], In early October 2021, Smith and Brockman were both among those listed in the Pandora Papers revelation, exposing the offshore sheltering of financial assets by hundreds of politicians, businesspeople, and celebrities. Robert Smith has 11,381 Voter Records | Page 3 Robert Smith has 11,381 Voter Records There are 11,381 voter registration records for Robert Smith. Scale Black Business Works Fund $10M: grow the Urban League of Louisianas Black Business Works Fund to support ~3K-4K MBEs over 5 years with emergency working capital needs to support/sustain ~$1B+ in annual revenues, 2. You are responsible for building strong, safe places where our young brothers and sisters can grow with confidence, watch and learn from positive role models, and believe that, they too, are entitled to the American Dream. -Robert F. Smith @RFS_Vista #MorehouseGrad2019 pic.twitter.com/CeMs6CxQkq, Morehouse College (@Morehouse) May 19, 2019. As of April 2021, Smith was the wealthiest Black American, with a net worth of $6 billion. After graduating, he began working in industry in Applied Research and Development and received two US and two European patents and numerous awards. 77th United States Secretary of the Treasury, Morehouse College Student Success Program, Billionaire Robert Smith reaches $140 million tax settlement with DOJ. Fund modernization & capacity-building and provide in-kind subject matter experts $30M: help 4-5 CDFIs/MDIs* over 5 years modernize their core systems, hire and train staff, expand marketing and standup SWAT team of experts to conduct needs diagnostic, implement tech solution & provide technical assistance. Have you subscribed totheGrios podcastDear Culture? Smith cooperated with the investigation and agreed to admit misconduct but will not be prosecuted, according to reports. Rhode Island. [8], In 2018, the foundation gave $500,000 to the New York Times to finance the 1619 Project, a left-wing journalistic endeavor that asserts the centrality of slavery in the founding of the United States. [22], In 2016, Smith was named as Private Equity International's Game Changer of the Year for his work with Vista. [17], In October 2020, Smith entered a settlement with the DOJ to pay a $139 million penalty and surrender $182 million in charitable tax deductions. Born in Prussia, Wagner migrated with his family to the United States in 1885. In 2016, Smith donated $20 million to the National Museum of African American Historyand Culture in Washington, DC. Oregon Blue Book: Earliest Authorities in Oregon - Speakers of the House of Representatives of Oregon. The couple has two children together, and Smith has three other children from a previous marriage. [32][33][34][35][36] According to the DOJ, Brockman, the backer of Smiths first private equity fund, led him to use the offshore trust that concealed income. Fund modernization & capacity-building and provide in-kind subject matter experts $30M:help 4-5 CDFIs/MDIs* over 5 years modernize their core systems, hire and train staff, expand marketing and standup SWAT team of experts to conduct needs diagnostic, implement tech solution & provide technical assistance;in-kind experts to also help build out the MBE ecosystem through CDFIs/MDIs, market CDFI/MDI offerings and programs and help draft final loan agreements to qualify borrowers between investment fund(s) and CDFIs/MDIs. ** Minority Serving Institutions / HBCUs with STEM programs being considered: Texas Southern University, University of Houston, Prairie View A&M University, Houston Baptist University, University of Houston-Clear Lake, University of Houston-Downtown, University of St Thomas. In addition to his personal philanthropy, Smith is the founding director and President of the Fund II Foundation, a charitable organization making grants to support a broad range of organizations. Billionaire Robert Smith Fighting U.S. Criminal Tax Inquiry. Bloomberg. [2], Smith served in the state House until he retired in 1972 to return to his ranch. [73], In October 2019, Smith received the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, which is given to individuals who have donated private wealth to the public. PALM BEACH, FLORIDA: A party arranged in James bond theme by Hope Dworaczyk, wife of Robert Frederick Smith, for her husband's 60th birthday allegedly pissed the guests due to the bizarre security measures. 4. "I dug up the phone number for Bell Labs to ask about summer internships," Smith said. Smith was born to Dr. William Robert Smith and Dr. Sylvia Myrna Smith, who were both school teachers. He went on to study at Cornell and Columbia universities, and he worked at Goldman Sachs before starting his own investment firm. The framework ignites innovation, demands fair access, and accelerates the careers of young people who have been overlooked and underestimated. The measures even included allegedly shutting down the home's 15 bathrooms to guests in favor of outdoor port-a-potties at their Florida . [14], Robert Smith is a proponent of the 2% Solution, a plan to close the wealth gap between white and Black Americans by encouraging all businesses in the United States to invest 2% of their profits for ten years into Black communities. [90] He also has two sons and two daughters with his wife Hope. He's the founder of the . Smith was accused of conspiring with billionaire software CEO Robert Brockman to conceal his income by routing proceeds from Vista Equity Partners through Caribbean shell corporations secretly owned by Smith. [15] As of 2019, Vista Equity Partners was the fourth largest enterprise software company after Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP, including all their holdings. He argued for the importance of a set aside (for minority owned small businesses in #PPP) and we agreed. Fund scholarships and hire coaches ~$35M: scale Birmingham Promise fund to financially support 200-250 students per year over 4 years to increase college retention and graduation rates, 5. Robert has been a great champion for improving access to capital in distressed communities. What is the Southern Communities Initiative? Robert F. Smith. Commit to increase racial diversity in supply chain and procurement: increase MBE spend in Greater Houston region* to 5-10%+, * One Houston Together serves as lead (please contact if you are interested in funding these initiatives), ** Houston Minority Supplier Development Council (HSMDC) serves as a partner organization (please contact if you are interested in learning more about this initiative), Estimated impact (of all initiatives): 2.5x increase in MBE value & ~55K new jobs, boosting Black communitys net worth by ~$12B, 4. [1] Her father was the clerk of Marion County. Smith was worth an estimated $2.5 billion, as of 2016. He's donated thousands more to specific Democratic candidates including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, and Chuck Schumer. Fund endowment $2M: support 50 University of Alabama at Birmingham college students per year with housing to reduce their financial burden and increase college retention and graduation rates, Estimated impact (of all initiatives): 6.5K+ additional college graduates & 35K workers with high-paying wages to drive ~$1.2B in economic growth, 6. After Smith made that announcement, you can see the shock and celebration take place in the audience, as the students registered fully what Smith was saying. Robert Freeman Smith (June 16, 1931 September 21, 2020), commonly known as Bob Smith, was an American Republican politician who represented Oregon in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 1995 and from 1997 to 1999. We have to do something for our community., NEW YORK, NY DECEMBER 06: Robert Smith attends RFK Human Rights? Komen. Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /homepages/17/d4294970467/htdocs/morpheus/wp-content/themes/virtue/themeoptions/inc/class.redux_filesystem.php on . ", "Influential Black Entrepreneurs - Robert Smith", "Vista Equity: The Biggest Software Group You've Never Heard Of", "Robert F. Smith - Vista Equity Partners", "Vista Equity Partners to pay $1.9 billion in private-equity deal for Apptio", "Vista Equity Partners to invest $1.5B in India's Reliance Jio Platforms", "Vista Equity Partners Is Acquiring Ping Identity", "What to know about Robert F. Smith, the man paying off Morehouse grads' student loans", "Vista's Smith named PEI's 2016 'Game Changer', "Cover Story: Robert F. Smith, Chairman & CEO of Vista Equity Partners", "Who Is Robert F. Smith? on the Board of Overseers of Columbia Business School, Smith ranks third in Forbes' Black Billionaires list, Read the memo private-equity titan Robert F. Smith, the richest black man in the US, sent to his staff about America's racial unrest, Robert F. Smith is a billionaire tech investor and philanthropist who founded and serves as CEO of, Smith was the target of a four-year investigation into his personal taxes that ended when the billionaire agreed to pay, Smith made headlines in May 2019 when he announced during his commencement address at Morehouse College that, Months later, he extended the $34 million gift to include the debt owed by the students' parents as well, per a Morehouse. According to Black Enterprise, his estimated net worth as of 2019 is $5 billion. Lives in: Madison, Connecticut Phone: (860) 922-4202. Robert is registered to vote in Hancock County, Ohio. Raise community awareness & adoption of Emergency Broadband Benefit: increase door-to-door and community outreach in low-income neighborhoods to get households onto EBB to help connect ~145K unconnected households, * Community organization(s) being identified, Estimated impact (of all initiatives): ~145K households connected to high-speed internet to unlock ~$3B in economic potential, Lead community organization: Urban League of Louisiana, 1. Kaur, Harmeet. Smith would rise to cohead of enterprise systems and storage-investment banking at Goldman Sachs, advising on $50 billion of deals from 1994 to 2000. In 2019, Smith attracted positive press when he pledged $34 million through the Fund II Foundation to pay off all student loan debt for the graduating class of 2019 at Morehouse College, a historically Black college. Incredible supporter of the administrations actions on HBCUs, Ivanka said at the Sept. 23 event that Smith attended virtually. You have to focus on everything that you're doing, seconds at a time.". In 2017, the Foundation gave $15 million to Smiths other alma mater Columbia University to help move the location of its business school. A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government. He then pulled up at @Morehouses graduation this morning, received an honorary doctorate, and said hes establishing a grant to pay off everyones student loans in the class of 2019 ? ToThe Washington Postin 2016, Smith noted his desire to get African Americans involved in computers and software, saying, This is the first time in history you can create wealth and not have access to capital. Fund modernization & capacity-building and provide in-kind subject matter experts $30M: help 4-5 CDFIs/MDIs* over 5 years modernize their core systems, hire and train staff, expand marketing and standup SWAT teams to conduct needs diagnostic, implement tech solution & provide technical assistance. to 10K+ youths, 7. Overview of Robert F Smith . [28][29]Smith said: "When we unify the souls of our two communities, we can usher in light to banish the darkness of racism, bigotry, and antisemitism. "They said I could apply if I were a junior or senior in college. Billionaire, philanthropist Robert F. Smith lobbies Washington, Wall Street for funding for minority businesses during pandemic - The Washington Post Advertisement This article was. One hundred years later, our own Founding Fathers recognized the need for that and the other rights in that. He avoided further penalties and prosecution by agreeing to assist the DOJ in its case against Brockman, which would later result in the largest tax evasion prosecution in U.S. history. October 8, 2020. What to know about Robert F. Smith, the man paying off Morehouse grads student loans. CNN Business. Smith, the richest Black man in the country who is worth an estimated $5.2 billion per Forbes, was heralded last year when he pledged to pay off the $34 million in loans for the graduating Morehouse class. Spokespeople for both Smith and the US attorney declined to comment to Bloomberg on the settlement. 7. The nations top corporations can reverse this by rebuilding these key infrastructures by allocating 2% of their net profits for the next 10 years to four key pillars: Banking and Financial Services, Healthcare, Education and Technology and the Digital Divide. Robert F. Smith is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, a leading global technology investment firm. We will only grasp the staggering potential of our time if we create on-ramps that empower all people to participate, regardless of background, country of origin, religious practice, gender, or color of skin. Smith earned a degree in chemical engineering from Cornell University. In Austin, Smith has started programs supporting music education and minority entrepreneurship, according to The New York Times. Commit to supplier diversity: increase MBE spend in Charlotte region to 5-10%+, Estimated impact (of all initiatives): 3x increase in MBE value & ~13K new jobs, boosting Black communitys net worth by ~$2B+, 4. During his 2019 commencement address at Morehouse College, a historically Black institution, Smith surprised the graduating class by pledging to pay off the entire class student loan debt a $34 million gift that helped nearly 400 graduates. In Austin, Chicago, Smith has 11,381 Voter registration Records for Robert.... 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