Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has been employed as the chief impact officer of BetterUp, a $1bn Silicon Valley firm providing professional coaching, mental health advice, and immersive learning.
Harry and Meghan Markle, his wife, had permanently step back from their royal duties at Buckingham Palace in January 2020.
But according to Wallstreet Journal, Harry has taken up a top executive role at the aforenamed Silicon Valley firm as his first formal position at a private company since he stepped down as a working member of the royal family.
The development also comes a few weeks after he and Meghan delivered a bombshell interview to Oprah Winfrey that detailed their decision to leave the United Kingdom.
Being a chief impact officer at BetterUp, Harry will help with product strategy decisions, charitable collaborations, and advice on topics related to mental health — having already worked closely with mental health charities.
He was quoted as stating that he hoped to be able to “create impact in people’s lives” by working with the company to provide “proactive coaching” for personal development, increased awareness, and “an all-round better life”.
It is understood that Harry and Meghan also signed multimillion-dollar deals to give content to Spotify and Netflix.
“Often because of societal barriers, financial difficulty, or stigma, too many people aren’t able to focus on their mental health until they’re forced to,” the Duke of Sussex, 36, was quoted to have added.
“This is about acknowledging that it isn’t so much what is wrong with us, but more about what happened to us over the course of life. I want us to move away from the idea that you have to feel broken before reaching out for help.”
On his part, Alexi Robichaux, the chief executive of BetterUp, said: “It’s a meaningful and meaty role. He’s synonymous with this approach of mental fitness and really investing in yourself. It was not a hard internal sale.”
Robichaux and Harry were said to have met through a mutual friend and discussed the collaboration back in 2020.
However, the nature of Harry’s pay and whether or not he has been handed shares in the business is still unknown.
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