NBA legend turned social entrepreneur Magic Johnson has committed to providing $100 million in capital to fund small business loans through the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
His companies, Magic Johnson Enterprises, and EquiTrust Life Insurance Company, have partnered with a New Jersey-based lender called MBE Capital Partners that specializes in financing minority and women-owned businesses.
In total, Johnson’s investment will fund loans for about 5,000 small businesses.
He reportedly has launched the initiative to help the many Black and minority-owned small businesses that were overlooked during the first round of loans that the U.S. government launch.
“What we’re launching here now is so important because we’re going to save a lot of small, minority businesses because they can’t just walk into the bank and get that loan,” Johnson told The Wall Street Journal.
