Raul Marcelo Claure is a Bolivian-American businessman, entrepreneur, and investor. He is now the CEO of SoftBank Group International and the COO of SoftBank Group Corporation, and he manages SoftBank’s operations and strategy with CEO Masayoshi Son. Claure manages portfolio businesses such as Boston Dynamics, Arm Holdings, Fortress, SB Energy, and WeWork as COO of SoftBank Group, a technology investment firm. Claure is a member of the SoftBank Group Investment Committee. As of 2021, Marcelo Claure has a net worth of an estimated $900 million.
He also oversees the $5 billion SoftBank Latin America Fund and the $100 million SB Opportunity Fund, which invests in entrepreneurs of color. He is WeWork’s executive chairman.
| Full Name | Raul Marcelo Claure |
| Nick Name | Marcelo Claure |
| Birth Place: | Guatemala, Bolivia |
| Date Of Birth/Birthday: | 9 December 1970 |
| Age/How Old: | 50 years old |
| Height/How Tall: | In Centimetres –180 cm In Feet and Inches – 5’9’’ |
| Weight: | In Kilograms – 90 Kg In Pounds –198 lbs |
| Eye Color: | Black |
| Hair Color: | Black |
| Parents Name: | Father – Rene Marcelo Claure Mother –Marta Bedoya de Claure |
| Siblings: | N/A |
| School: | Instituto Domingo Savio School and American Cooperative School of La Paz |
| College: | University of Lowell and Bentley College |
| Religion: | Catholic |
| Nationality: | Bolivian-American |
| Zodiac Sign: | Sagittarius |
| Gender: | Male |
| Sexual Orientation: | Straight |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Girlfriend: | N/A |
| Wife/Spouse Name: | Jordon Engard (m. 2005) |
| Kids/Children Name: | 6 |
| Profession: | Businessmen |
| Net Worth: | $900 Million |
Marcelo Claure Early Life & Education
Ral Marcelo Claure was born on December 9, 1970, in Guatemala.
Claure’s Bolivian citizenship was acquired through his father’s employment as a Bolivian diplomat, particularly as a geologist for the United Nations diplomatic service. Claure’s family moved to Morocco when he was two years old, then to the Dominican Republic before returning to La Paz, Bolivia, where he spent the most of his youth. He attended the Instituto Domingo Savio before transferring to the American Cooperative School in La Paz, where he graduated in 1989. Later that year, he moved to Lowell, Massachusetts, to attend what was then the University of Lowell.
He then moved to Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Finance in 1993. Bentley University bestowed upon him an Honorary Doctorate of Commercial Sciences.
Marcelo Claure Net Worth & Career
Claure returned to La Paz after graduating from college to work as the director of commercial operations for the Bolivian Football Federation. He returned to the United States in 1995 and purchased USA Wireless, a cellular merchant. He grew the business before selling it a year later. Claure was named President of Small World Communications, a communications and distribution firm headquartered in California, in 1996. He was the company’s CEO for two years before moving to Miami, Florida.
Brightstar CEO
Brightstar CEO Claure established Brightstar in Miami in October 1997, with the wireless distributor and service provider originally focused on Latin America. With Claure as CEO, the business expanded into Latin America and the Caribbean. The business signed a distribution deal with Motorola for all of Latin America in 2001, followed by a worldwide distribution agreement in 2007. Brightstar was awarded the biggest Hispanic-owned company in the United States in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2013 with Claure as the only owner. Brightstar was named the sixth fastest-growing business in the United States by Inc. Magazine in 2009, and Forbes rated it the 55th biggest privately owned firm in the United States in 2013. SoftBank, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, paid $1.26 billion for Brightstar in 2013.
In February 2014, Brightstar purchased 20:20 Mobile, becoming the owner of additional sites across Europe. In addition, in April 2014, Brightstar purchased SoftBank Group’s Commerce & Services Division, becoming Brightstar the main worldwide distributor for the SoftBank Selection brand of mobile devices. Brightstar has a local presence in roughly 50 countries across six continents by 2014. Brightstar had $10 billion in sales until Claure sold the whole business to Sprint in 2014. In 2020, SoftBank sold a majority interest in Brightstar to Brightstar Capital Partners, a private equity company.
Sprint CEO
In January 2014, Sprint CEO and Executive Chairman Claure joined the Sprint Corporation board of directors. On August 5, 2014, he was chosen to succeed Dan Hesse as CEO of Sprint Corporation. The announcement was made on August 6, 2014, which also happened to be Bolivia’s independence day. On August 11, 2014, Claure was appointed President and CEO of Sprint. According to Bloomberg, Claure “directed a turnaround” of the business, which was losing $3.3 billion per year. Claure concentrated on cost-cutting and client acquisition, and the company’s stock price was skyrocketing by 2015. Sprint moved from losing customers to gaining over 2 million under Claure’s tenure. In addition to posting its greatest financial performance in company history, the business also turned a profit for the first time in 11 years.
Claure was appointed executive chairman of Sprint Corporation on May 2, 2018, after joining the SoftBank Group board in June 2017. Claure succeeded Michel Combes as Sprint CEO on May 31, 2018, approximately one month after Sprint and T-Mobile announced intentions to combine. In this capacity, he became more focused on obtaining regulatory clearance for the merger from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). Claure was named to T-Board Mobile’s of Directors when Sprint and T-Mobile merged in April 2020. Claure managed the second biggest secondary offering in US history in June 2020, when SoftBank sold $14.8 billion in T-Mobile US shares.
CEO of SoftBank Group International and COO of SoftBank Group
Claure was named COO of SoftBank Group on May 2, 2018, simultaneously becoming CEO of SoftBank Group International and SoftBank Latin America. According to Bloomberg, the promotions are a “reward for saving a sinking ship” at Sprint, with Claure still in charge of the plans to combine Sprint and T-Mobile. Claure started managing the company’s entire business strategy with SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. Claure oversaw managing businesses such as Boston Dynamics, Arm Holdings, Sprint, Fortress, Brightstar, SB Energy, and WeWork as COO of SoftBank Group Corp. Claure also became CEO of the newly established $5 billion SoftBank Latin America Fund in March 2019, which is regarded as the biggest technology fund focusing only on the Latin American market. He also oversees the SB Opportunity Fund, a $100 million fund established in 2020 to invest in entrepreneurs of color. Claure and three other executives resigned from the SoftBank Group board in November 2020, with Masayoshi Son saying that the decision was made to “enhance the image of board independence.”
Claure’s blank check company (SPAC) was seeking to raise $200 million via an IPO in January 2021, with Claure becoming CEO of LDH Growth. In January 2021, he also took over as CEO of the SoftBank Miami Initiative, a $100 million financing initiative for companies located in or moving to Miami.
Executive Chairman of WeWork
Claure was named executive chairman of the board of WeWork, a workspace provider, in October 2019. Claure collaborates with Sandeep Mathrani, whom he named CEO of WeWork in February 2020. WeWork signed a formal deal with BowX Acquisition Corp. in March 2021 to become a publicly listed company through SPAC Merger.
Marcelo Claure Net Worth
As of 2021, Marcelo Claure has a net worth of an estimated $900 million.
