PayPal pledges $530M to support minority-owned businesses in US, YouTube launches $100M creator fund

Brands pledge support of Black Lives Matter movement

Several brands and celebrities have pledged donations in support of causes fighting for racial justice.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - PayPal on Thursday said it is offering $530 million to black and minority-owned businesses and communities across the United States to help address racial and economic inequalities. YouTube, meanwhile, said it is launching a fund to support minority creators on its platform.

PayPal said $500 million of its commitment will be in the form of investments through PayPal Ventures, the company’s investment arm, to support minority-led startups and businesses.

"For far too long, Black people in America have faced deep-seated injustice and systemic economic inequality. Black lives matter and we need to drive transformative change," PayPal president and CEO Dan Schulman said in a statement. "We must take decisive action to close the racial wealth gap that sustains this profound inequity."

Another $10 million will go toward grants to black-owned businesses impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak or civil unrest to help cover “expenses related to stabilizing and reopening their businesses,” the company said.

PayPal is one of many tech companies that have pledged support to the black community in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Floyd died on May 25 after a Minneapolis policeman knelt on his neck for several minutes while he was handcuffed.

Widely-seen bystander video of the moment sparked protests across the country and around the world against police brutality and systemic racism.

YouTube launched a $100 million fund dedicated to amplifying and developing black creators and artists on its platform.

“We’re committed to doing better as a platform to center and amplify Black voices and perspectives,” CEO Susan Wojcicki said in the blog post.

Apple also announced on Thursday a $100 million commitment for a program called the Racial Equity and Justice Initiative, which will focus on education, economic equality and criminal justice reform.

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian resigned from the company's board last week and urged his colleagues to fill the seat with a black candidate. He said he intends to use future earnings on Reddit stock to serve the black community and also pledged to donate $1 million to Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp, which works to educate, empower and mobilize young people in black and brown communities.

Amazon committed “a total of $10 million to organizations that are working to bring about social justice and improve the lives of Black and African Americans,” the company said in a statement on June 3.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg committed to giving “additional $10 million to groups working on racial justice” in a post on May 31. His philanthropic charity, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, will also invest roughly $40 million annually for “several years” to organizations fighting racial injustice.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey pledged $3 million to Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp, among other grants to benefit black and brown communities.

This story was reported from Cincinnati.