Prince Harry is now a Silicon Valley executive.
The San Francisco-based startup BetterUp Inc. announced Tuesday that it has hired the duke of Sussex as its chief impact officer. The 8-year-old company provides coaching and mental health services to clients using artificial intelligence technology and behavioral science experts.
What You Need To Know
- The San Francisco-based startup BetterUp Inc. announced Tuesday that it has hired Prince Harry as its chief impact officer
- The company provides coaching and mental health services to clients using artificial intelligence technology and behavioral science experts
- The prince wrote in a blog post that his goals at BetterUp include driving advocacy and awareness for mental fitness; influencing the vision of the company; and expanding its global community
- Harry also wrote that what caught his attention was BetterUp's "mission to unlock the potential in people everywhere necessitates innovation, impact, and integrity"
In a blog post on the company’s website, CEO Alexi Robichaux said he was drawn to Harry because of his work in mental health causes.
“We are energized by his model of inspiration and impact through action,” Robichaux wrote. “As a true citizen of the world, he has dedicated his life’s work to bringing attention to the diverse needs of people everywhere and advocating for mental health initiatives: from founding the Invictus Games, a platform for service personnel to use sport as part of their psychological and physical rehabilitation, to launching Sentebale, which supports the mental health and wellbeing of young people affected by HIV in Lesotho and Botswana.”
Harry’s hiring comes about three weeks after the bombshell TV interview he and his wife, Meghan, gave Oprah Winfrey. In it, they discussed the toll life in the royal family has taken on their mental health. The couple are no longer working members of the British monarchy and have moved to Santa Barbara, California.
The prince wrote in the blog post that his goals at BetterUp include driving advocacy and awareness for mental fitness; influencing the vision of the company’s platform, community and member experience; and expanding its global community.
Harry wrote that he has personally worked with a BetterUp coach and has made the company’s services available to the staff at Archewell, the nonprofit group he and Meghan started last week.
“[W]hat caught my attention about BetterUp was that the company’s mission to unlock the potential in people everywhere necessitates innovation, impact, and integrity,” Harry wrote. “Their team has been delivering on that work for years. I was also impressed by the scale and opportunity for impact – the ability to change millions of people’s lives for the better, through a combination of human connection, leading technology, and behavioural science.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, Harry won’t manage employees or have direct reports. He is likely to spend some time at the company’s headquarters, will participate in all-hands meetings and appear at special company events, Robichaux told the newspaper.
Financial terms of Harry’s employment were not disclosed.
Harry and Meghan’s other ventures since moving to the U.S. include signing deals to produce content for Netflix and podcasts for Spotify.
Ryan Chatelain - Digital Media Producer
Ryan Chatelain is a national news digital content producer for Spectrum News and is based in New York City. He has previously covered both news and sports for WFAN Sports Radio, CBS New York, Newsday, amNewYork and The Courier in his home state of Louisiana.