What is Marcelo Claure's Net Worth and Salary?
Marcelo Claure is a billionaire technology entrepreneur and investor who has a net worth of $1.3 billion. He is the founder and CEO of Claure Group, and has held executive positions at Sprint, SoftBank Group, and Shein. Claure is also known for his involvement in sports, owning Club Bolívar and co-owning Girona FC.
Marcelo Claure is well-known for his tenure at Masayoshi Son's Softbank and during the WeWork implosion led by Adam Neumann. In 2013, Softbank acquired 57% of his telecommunications company Brightstar for $1.3 billion, valuing the firm at $2.2 billion. Claure's remaining share was worth around $1 billion. He later orchestrated Brightstar’s full acquisition by Sprint and was appointed CEO of Sprint. By then, Brightstar generated $10 billion per year and was the largest Hispanic-owned business in the US.
Softbank Salary
At Softbank, Claure was consistently among Japan's highest-paid executives, earning an average of $20 million per year. In December 2021, he sought a multi-year contract worth up to $2 billion, but Softbank countered with a much lower offer. He subsequently founded the Claure Group and received a severance package estimated at $94 million, including immediate and potential future payouts.
Early Life and Education
Marcelo Claure was born on December 9, 1970, in Guatemala to Bolivian parents. His family moved to Morocco, the Dominican Republic, and finally settled in La Paz, Bolivia. He attended the Instituto Domingo Savio and graduated from the American Cooperative School of La Paz in 1989. Claure later studied at the University of Lowell and Bentley College, where he earned a BS in economics and finance.
Career Beginnings
After college, Claure returned to Bolivia to head business operations at the Bolivian Football Federation. In 1995, he moved back to the US, purchased USA Wireless, and expanded it before selling it. He then became president of Small World Communications in California before moving to Miami.
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Brightstar and Sprint
In 1997, Claure founded Brightstar in Miami and targeted the Latin American market. Brightstar formed a Latin American distribution agreement with Motorola in 2001 and a global distribution agreement in 2007.
In 2013, Softbank bought 57% of Brightstar for $2.2 billion. Claure oversaw Brightstar's sale to Sprint and later served as Sprint’s CEO from 2014 to 2018. He led Sprint's turnaround, adding over two million customers and making the company profitable. Claure was executive chairman of Sprint from 2018 to 2020 and oversaw its merger with T-Mobile, joining the combined company's board.
SoftBank Group
Claure joined SoftBank's board in 2017 and became its COO in 2018. He also became CEO of SoftBank Group International and SoftBank Latin America, managing portfolio companies like Boston Dynamics and WeWork, and leading the SoftBank Latin America Fund and SB Opportunity Fund. In 2021, he initiated the SoftBank Miami Initiative to fund startups in Miami.
Other Companies
In 2022, Claure founded Claure Group. He co-founded the $500 million Bicycle Capital in 2023, serving as executive chairman and managing partner. Additionally, he became the chair of Shein's Latin American operations.
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Sports Team Ownership
Claure is deeply involved in sports, particularly football. In 2008, he led a group to acquire Club Bolívar. In 2012, he partnered with David Beckham and Simon Fuller to launch Miami Beckham United and establish Inter Miami CF. He is also a co-owner of Girona FC.
Philanthropy
Claure co-founded One Laptop Per Child in 2008 to provide low-cost laptops to disadvantaged students. In 2016, he started the 1Million Project Foundation with Sprint to give free computers and Internet to underserved US students. After Sprint's merger, the initiative became Project 10Million.
Personal Life
Claure married Jordan Engard in 2005, and they have four daughters and two sons together. He also has a son and a daughter from a previous marriage.
