40
BloombergBusinessweek June 29, 2020homeswheretheyfeellikethey
canbea partofthatstory.Andthey
feellike,Oh,youknowwhat?I can
relatetothat.It’sveryorganictoour
upbringing.”Carteradded:“When
yougrowupina placelikewherewe
were,nomatterhowtalentedyou
are,if youdon’tevenknowthatother
thingsexist,there’snowayforyouto
everfeelempoweredbecauseyou’re
like,I’mconfinedtothissmallworld.
That’sourduty.A lotofexposure.”
What was aspirational in
Februaryisa lotmorereal now.
Blackpeopleare dyingfromthe
coronavirusatmorethantwicethe
rateofWhites,amida recessionin
which Black unemployment has
climbedtoitshighestlevelinmore
thana decade,andwhileanhistoric
waveofprotestsis sweepingacrossthecountry—andworld.
ButthesearethetimesJamesandCarterfindthemselvesin,
andtheymaybethetwopeoplebestsuitedtohelpothers
voiceandanswerthequestionswe’reallasking.Discussions
aboutracedominatemedia.BooksaboutWhiteprivilege
andanti-racismtopbestsellerlists;U.S.demandforNetflix
Inc.’ssatiricalDearWhitePeopleandWhenTheySeeUs, a mini-
seriesabouttheCentralParkFive,skyrocketedasprotestsgot
underway,accordingtoParrotAnalytics.HBOMaxtempo-
rarilyremovedGoneWiththeWindfromitscatalog(inhonor
ofJuneteenth,HBO.commadeTheWatchmenavailablefor
free),whileEpicGamesInc.gotridofpolicecarsinFortnite.
Cartertookadvantageofthelockdowntospendvirtual
one-on-onetimewiththe 105 employeesofthenewventure,
aswellastofinalizepartnerships.Hesigneda TVproduction
dealwithWaltDisneyCo.andis workingwithNetflixona
basketball-themedmoviethatwouldstarAdamSandler.A
seriesheworkedonwithNetflix,Self-Made, aboutMadam
C.J.Walker,a Blackwomanwhocreateda beautyempirein
theearly20thcentury,starringOctaviaSpencer,premiered
inMarch.
AsthepandemicgroundHollywoodtoa halt,SpringHill
EntertainmentjoinedwithLaurenePowellJobs’sXQInstitute
toproducea virtualceremonyJameshostedcalledGraduate
Together:AmericaHonorstheHighSchoolClassof 2020. It fea-
turedaddressesbyformerPresidentObamaandNobelPeace
PrizewinnerMalalaYousafzai.
CartersaidonZoom,“I’mgettinga lotofcallsfromother
CEOs.A lotofcallson,‘Whatareyoudoing?Whatdoyouthink
weshouldbedoing?’I’mexplainingtopeople,‘Don’ttreat
thisasa moment,’” he said. This is bigger than a moment—
the attention that issues of inequality are getting right now is
“more like what this country should be, and what this world
should be,” he said. “We’ve always been about empowering
people who feel like us and come from the communities thatwe come from and want to believe in
our mission.”
Devin Johnson, SpringHill’s chief
operating officer, says that diversity
is built into the company. He says its
employees are 64% people of color
and 40% female. “I’ve never had to
convene a task force,” he says, as
other companies scramble to figure
out how they can be more reflective
of society.
SpringHill might just sound like
another superstar athlete’s vanity
project. But Johnson says the com-
pany isn’t set up for—and around—a
single athlete; rather, it’s a platform
in his image: “You can’t create a real
digital business on a celebrity. We
don’t do that with LeBron. He is our
founder and our North Star, but the
business isn’t built on everything touching him.”
That attitude has freed up James for other projects—like, for
example, playing professional basketball. Play is scheduled to
resume on July 30, with 22 teams competing for spots in the
playoffs, all to be held in a quarantine bubble at Walt Disney
World in Orlando. Many have picked the Lakers to win the title.
And earlier this month, James recruited current NBA stars
such as Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks, as well as former
star and now broadcaster Jalen Rose, to form More Than a
Vote. The group is focused on protecting voter rights and pre-
venting suppression, especially in Black communities. James
announced it after social media posts showed people waiting
for hours to cast ballots in Georgia’s primaries. “We’ve had
voter suppression for so long,” James said on Zoom. “People
not understanding how they can vote, where they can vote, if
their vote really counts.”
After forming the group, James was criticized by Hong Kong
democracy activist Joshua Wong, who accused him of being
hypocritical. Wong said in a tweet that James’s position didn’t
align with past comments. He was widely criticized last year
for calling Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey’s
support for the city’s protesters “misinformed.”
In February, when I asked what he’d learned from that expe-
rience, James said it taught him to “keep an open mind about
how to continue to get better.” On the June 23 call, James said:
“I speak about things that I’m knowledgeable about, that I’m
educated on. And at the end of the day, right is right, and
wrong is wrong. I want the betterment of people—no matter
skin color, no matter race, no matter anything.”A LITTLE MORE THAN A DECADE AGO, IT MIGHT HAVE
seemed unlikely that James and Carter would amass a war
chest of $100 million. The investors are financial services
company Guggenheim Partners LLC, UC Investments,
News Corp. heir Elisabeth Murdoch, and SC.Holdings, theCARTER