Netflix Commits $100 Million to Support Black Communities

Video streaming giant Netflix has reportedly committed $100 million to support black communities in the United States. The company plans to commit 2 percent of its cash holdings to black financial institutions and will also donate to a fund to “support financing to more than 2,500 entrepreneurs, homebuyers and consumers of color.”

CNBC reports that video streaming giant Netflix announced this week that it plans to put two percent of its cash holdings in financial institutions and organizations to “directly support black communities in the U.S.”

Netflix stated in a blog post that it will commit as much as $100 million as part of its initial investment. $25 million will be moved to a new fund called the Black Economic Development Initiative which will invest in “Black financial institutions serving low and moderate-income communities and Black community development corporations in the U.S.”

The firm stated that $10 million will be donated to the Hope Credit Union to fuel economic opportunity in underserved communities in the Deep South. The company stated: “Over the next two years, HOPE estimates the Netflix deposit will support financing to more than 2,500 entrepreneurs, homebuyers and consumers of color.”

Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann said in a CNBC interview that Netflix has “roughly $5 billion in our cash balance sheet as of last quarter.” Neumann stated: “If we can move 2% into these Black owned or Black led financial institutions… where we can still manage our liquidity… it’s a way to do this on an ongoing basis and hopefully learn from this and it continues to grow.”

Neumann stated that the financial institutions that Netflix has chosen provide “probably a little lower interest rate but [the difference is] relatively small. We think that’s worth it.”

The idea was reportedly proposed to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings by Netflix’s director of talent acquisition Aaron Mitchell. Mitchell then teamed up with Netflix Treasury director Shannon Alwyn to coordinate the $100 million fund.

Mitchell and Alwyn sated in the blog post: “19% percent of Black families have either negative wealth or no assets at all, compared to only 9% of White households, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve. … Black banks have existed to fight this for generations, spurring economic growth by extending credit in often underbanked communities. But they’re disadvantaged in their access to capital, especially from large multinational companies, when compared to other banks.”

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