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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Sustainable Investment Firm, Ethic, Backs Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corp and Makers of Deadly Weapons
The sustainable investment firm backed by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry has been accused of hypocrisy after it was revealed that the company owns shares in Rupert Murdoch's Fox Corp and the makers of the world's most deadly laser-guided bombs.
Ethic has defended itself against charges of hypocrisy despite its branding that leans heavily on the language of left-wing political activism on issues such as climate change and fighting global poverty.
Ethic claims to be different from other ethical investment funds because it lets customers choose their political priorities for investments and provides them with custom portfolios to match.
But some of the holdings among its $1.3 billion under management are in sharp contrast with the Sussexes' green campaigning, with Harry writing in The Washington Post just today that firms must stop pillaging Africa for oil in countries such as Botswana where he and Meghan had found sanctuary.
Today, royal expert Penny Junor said their backing of Ethic could mean life is going to be very difficult for Meghan and Harry, adding it is asking for trouble and setting themselves up for a fall.
Announcing their role as chief impact officers for Ethic, the couple said that they want to rethink the nature of investing to help solve the global issues we all face.
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Amid claims the stocks make them and the company given royal approval appear hypocritical, a spokesman for Ethic insisted their job is to create an investment portfolio based on what their customer wants, not their own ethics.
Ethic has bought $539,000 worth of shares in Fox Corp, part of Rupert Murdoch's media empire that includes Fox News, the bogeyman of American left whose presenters have been critical of the Sussexes and their treatment of the royal family.
Harry complained in January of this year about a Murdoch newspaper and its coverage of he and Meghan's departure from social media.
Tucker Carlson famously calls Harry Prince whatever his name is and Meghan Markle, his angry wife in Los Angeles.
While in May star host Sean Hannity called out Prince Harry after he infuriated many Americans by calling the First Amendment bonkers.
He said, “I have a message for Harry, who is now attacking one of America's most sacred rights, the freedom of speech, Harry, we really don't need you coming from England to give us lectures on the First Amendment.”
The investment may be a shock to Harry, who has accused News Corp's newspapers of spreading fake news about him and Meghan and sued Mr Murdoch's British tabloid The Sun during the phone hacking scandal.
Its clients also hold stock in Raytheon, which makes billions a year in weapons sales and just last month tested its latest hypersonic missile, capable of speeds faster than five times the speed of sound and dubbed a death sentence for anything it strikes.
Also among the holdings are small amounts of shares in Gulf of Mexico oil exploration company W&T Offshore and mining company B2 Gold that operates gold mines in Namibia and Mali.
Ethic holds shares in both Amazon and Walgreens, owners of high street chemist boots.
Many other well-known firms fared little better against the strict parameters covering environmental impact, human rights, and social justice, set by Ethical Consumer.
The organization has called for a complete boycott against Amazon since 2012 for its outrageous tax avoidance.
It also criticized the company in July 2021 over its alleged poor treatment of Chinese workers as well as and policies on toxic chemicals in clothing and electronics.
Walgreens Boots Alliance's poor score was allegedly down to its environmental reporting, its policy on sale of tobacco in its shops in the US and its policy on the use of toxic chemicals.
Ethic's rich clients own tens of millions of dollars of shares in Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube's owner Google despite the couple decrying the hate they have encountered online and their personal crusade against fake news.