Update 10/17/2020 4:56pm:

According to reports, billionaire Robert Smith is under fire after he reportedly admitted to tax fraud. This comes on the heels of Smith previously announcing that he was going to pay off the debt of Morehouse College students last year.

The Justice Department revealed that Smith entered a non-prosecution agreement where he admitted involvement in a detailed scheme to evade taxes. Smith reportedly was concealing income and dodging taxes by using offshore bank accounts and trusts for 15 years.

As a result of his agreement, Smith agreed to pay back $139 million in taxes and penalties. Along with that, he agreed to give up $182 million in charitable contribution deductions. Stay tuned for more details.

source: The Hill 

Original 07/03/2020 2:53pm:

American Billionaire Robert F. Smith has proposed a 2% solution that will see large corporations should use 2% of their annual net income for the next decade to empower minority communities during Forbes’ virtual Philanthropy Summit last week. In 2019, Smith made headlines for paying off the debt of the entire Morehouse 2019 graduating class. 

At the recent summit, Smith pointed out Corporate America’s history of structural racism, stating, "If you think about structural racism and access to capital, 70% of African American communities don’t even have a branch, bank of any type." He added that the net income of the ten largest U.S. banks over the last ten years was $968 billion, and just 2% of that would amount to $19.4 billion. That money could be used to fund Tier 1 capital of community development banks that predominately cater to Black communities. 

He stated, "The deprivation of capital is one of the areas that creates a major problem to the enablement of the African American community. The first thing to do is put capital into those branch banks to lend to these small businesses to actually create an opportunity set . . . drive it into these small businesses, which employs 60%-plus of African Americans." 

While ensuring more Black Americans have access to opportunities, Smith believes that his 2% plan will increase the nation’s economic activity by more than $1 trillion annually. He added, "I think that will show Americans there is hope, there is an opportunity for the American dream to now be revitalized. And frankly, to give us all confidence that we can actually make this a better country and a better place to live." 

Source: Forbes