Early Life and Education
Raúl Marcelo Claure Bedoya was born in La Paz, Bolivia, on December 9, 1970. Due to his father's career as a geologist for the United Nations, he lived in Morocco and the Dominican Republic before returning to La Paz for his childhood. He attended the American Cooperative School in La Paz, graduating in 1989. He later attended Bentley College in Massachusetts, graduating in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in economics and finance.
Rise to Success
Claure's entrepreneurial journey began with Brightstar Corporation in 1997. He built Brightstar into the world's largest global wireless distribution and services company, generating over $10 billion in revenue. In 2014, he sold Brightstar to SoftBank. He then became the CEO of Sprint, where he led a successful turnaround, improving the company's financial results and overseeing the merger with T-Mobile. He was later promoted to CEO of SoftBank Group International, overseeing a portfolio of 40 companies and managing over $450 billion.
Key Business Strategies
Claure's success stems from several key strategies. At Brightstar, he focused on changing the rules of distribution to gain a competitive advantage. During his time at Sprint, he implemented financial cuts and customer-focused strategies, leading to significant growth. As CEO of SoftBank Group International, he oversaw the strategic direction and operations of various portfolio companies. Currently, through Claure Group, he invests in various high-growth sectors, providing strategic capital and expertise to portfolio companies.
Philanthropy
Claure is actively involved in philanthropy, demonstrating his dedication to supporting education and technology. He helped launch One Laptop Per Child through Brightstar. He created the 1Million Project Foundation as CEO of Sprint. He also co-chairs the Digital Data Design (D^3) Institute at Harvard Business School.
