Marcelo Claure

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Claure and the second or maternal family name is Bedoya.

Marcelo Claure
Claure in 2019
Born (1970-12-09) 9 December 1970 (age 53)
La Paz, Bolivia
NationalityBolivian, American
Alma materBentley University (BS)
Occupation(s)Technology entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist
Title
  • Claure Group, CEO
    Shein, Chairman of Latin America
    Shein, Group Vice Chairman
    Bicycle Capital, Chairman
Board member of
SpouseJordan Engard

Raul Marcelo Claure Bedoya is a Bolivian-American technology entrepreneur, businessman, and investor.[1] He is the founder and CEO of Claure Group, the Executive Chairman of Bicycle Capital, and Group Vice Chairman for Shein.

Claure founded the wireless services company Brightstar in 1997,[2] which ranked as the largest Hispanic-owned business in the United States for six years.[3] Claure sold the company to join Sprint in 2014,[4] serving as Sprint's President and CEO from 2014[5][6][7] until 2018,[8] and as executive chairman from 2018[9] until 2020.[10] Credited with having "led a turnaround" at Sprint,[11] he oversaw the company's planned merger with T-Mobile USA.[8][9] He currently sits on the board of the combined company.[10]

From 2020 until early 2022[12] he was the chief executive officer (CEO) of SoftBank Group International and chief operating officer (COO) of SoftBank Group Corporation.[5] He oversaw SoftBank's operations and strategy along with CEO Masayoshi Son.[8] As COO of SoftBank Group, a technology investment company, Claure oversaw portfolio companies such as Boston Dynamics, Arm Holdings, Fortress,[13][14] SB Energy, and WeWork.[8] Claure was a SoftBank Group Investment Committee member.[15] He also headed the $5 billion[1] SoftBank Latin America Fund[16] and SB Opportunity Fund, a $100 million fund dedicated to investing in entrepreneurs of color.[citation needed] He was the executive chairman of WeWork[17][18] and was on the boards of Arm and Fortress.[19]

While continuing as CEO of Claure Group,[20] in June 2023 he launched Bicycle Capital, a Latin America-focused venture capital fund targeting $500 million.[21] In February 2023, he was appointed chair of the Latin American operations of Shein, a fashion firm.[22] Claure was appointed Shein's Group Vice Chairman in October 2023. Claure is owner of the football team Club Bolivar; chairman and co-owner of Girona FC since August 2020.[23] Claure is also involved in philanthropy. In his role at Brightstar, he helped launch One Laptop Per Child[24] and as CEO of Sprint, he created the 1Million Project Foundation. Both initiatives provide computer access to students.[25] As of August 2022, his net worth was estimated at US$2 billion by Bloomberg, making him Bolivia’s wealthiest person.[26]

  1. ^ a b "Our Executive Leadership Team & Board of Directors | T-Mobile". www.t-mobile.com.
  2. ^ "About Brightstar – Corporate Governance/Leadership Team". Bright Star Corporation. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  3. ^ "Hispanic Business Top 500 Hispanic Businesses". Hispanic Business. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012.
  4. ^ "Marcelo's moment: Saving Sprint is biggest challenge of Claure's already impressive life". The Kansas City Star. 22 August 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  5. ^ a b Rob Wile (15 October 2018), From 'unknown' to wealthiest Hispanic-American — and now, he's moving back to Miami, Miami Herald, retrieved 17 October 2019
  6. ^ Knutson, Ryan; Mattioli, Dana (5 August 2014). "Sprint Abandons Pursuit of T-Mobile, Replaces CEO". WSJ. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  7. ^ "Brightstar Media Page". Brightstar. Archived from the original on 1 November 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  8. ^ a b c d "Marcelo Claure". Concordia.net. 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  9. ^ a b Inagaki, Kana (3 May 2018). "Bolivian billionaire Claure to oversee Sprint-T-Mobile merger". Financial Times.
  10. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference SRD13 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "SoftBank Is Said to Prep Latam Fund Run by COO Claure". Bloomberg L.P. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  12. ^ AFP (28 January 2022). "SoftBank: Marcelo Claure claque la porte, le Français Michel Combes promu DG de SoftBank International". Frenchweb. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference SRD14 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ "Marcelo Claure Tech". Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  15. ^ "Corporate Governance System". SoftBank Group Corp.
  16. ^ "Largest Latin American tech fund in the world is born. It's being led by a Miamian". Miami Herald. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  17. ^ "WeWork losses doubled as it rushed to open new offices ahead of its failed IPO". Los Angeles Times. 13 November 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  18. ^ "WeWork Announces New SoftBank Appointment to Board of Directors and Designates Chairman". www.businesswire.com. 29 March 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference groupsoftbank was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ "Marcelo Claure". Bloomberg Línea. 18 September 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  21. ^ "Marcelo Claure of SoftBank Fame Has a New Venture Firm". Bloomberg. 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference sc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference SRD1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Hemlock, Doreen (23 August 2008). "No child left offline". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  25. ^ "Sprint to give internet access to 1 million students to close 'homework gap'". The Kansas City Star. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  26. ^ "Marcelo Claure Plots Next Move for His Billions After SoftBank Split". Bloomberg.com. 18 July 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.