In 2024, Smith was named the second richest man in the U.S. after years of holding the no. 1 spot on Forbes’ Richest Black People list. You don’t get to be one of the richest men in the country without learning a thing or two about hiring practices. So in light of President Donald Trump banning DEI at the federal level and major cooperations following suit, Robert F. Smith is warning Black folks and other minorities not to panic for one key reason.
The founder, chairman, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners has a net worth of $10.8 billion, and recently, he sat down for an interview at the 788th Meeting of the Economic Club of New York to talk about why diversity is key to America’s success. To him, the diverse nature of the U.S. population is what makes us so great.
“Diversity in America is absolutely our unfair advantage in the world,” he began. “And we need to lean into that unfair advantage.” Although DEI was the government’s latest attempt to address the clear need for variety across the workforce, Smith, who was named the country’s second richest Black man, said Trump’s decision to roll back DEI doesn’t necessarily mean the end of diversity like so many fear.
“We need to engage all of our citizenry,” the billionaire continued. “You’re not going to get that if you don’t have a broad coalition of people at the table.” Smith continued clarifying this doesn’t mean picking folks just because of their race. That’s literally not what DEI is all about. “America should be a place of meritocracy, but not just meritocracy in race, but meritocracy in an opportunity set,” he said.
For him, the problems of current society cannot be solved if everyone making the decisions looks the same. “We all know that a wider aperture or perspective in addressing a problem increases the probability of returns and lessens the risk in those businesses,” he explained. So with that, companies will simply have to hire a more diverse workforce to keep up with the demands of their respective industries.
Getting rid of diversity in the workforce doesn’t just impact Black folks either. In fact, statistics show white women benefited the most from DEI efforts. According to the job search site Zippia, 76 percent of diversity leadership roles are held by white people, and 54 percent are held by women. “You’re going to not include them?… No, you are,” Smith continues. “People are just maybe offended by the way that certain of the programs were administered.”
The CEO added he’s already having conversations with other tech leaders about effective ways to diversify their workforce. “Most of the executives that I deal with are saying ‘Yeah, we have to adhere to the law, but what we’re going to do is ensure that we hire the best people for the jobs that we have and the best people we can find,’” he said.
Contrary to President Trump’s order, Smith said the best people for the job often come from diverse backgrounds. “The best people are very diverse now relative to what it was maybe 40, 50 years ago when people didn’t have access to education and educational opportunities,” Smith continued. So for folks afraid that anti-DEI efforts mean the end of all diversity, just know leaders, like Smith, are on your side.