Startups

Tech investor Michael Rubin helped pay for those ‘Stand With Meek Mill’ ads

“If we need one on every corner in every street in the state of Pennsylvania we will do it,” the investor told the Inqy.

The animations on busturnaround.nyc are very nice. (Screenshot)

A Philly.com story dug into that campaign backing rapper Robert “Meek Mill” Williams amid his woes with the justice system.

After Judge Genece Brinkley handed a 2-4 year probation sentence for violating the terms of his parole on Nov. 7, the #StandWithMeekMill movement was born. A peep at the hashtag on Twitter tracks sightings of the buses and billboards that turned up around town the day after the sentencing.

Footing the bill for the ad blitz is Roc Nation, the Jay-Z-owned management company where Williams is enlisted, and GSI Commerce founderturned-investor Michael Rubin.

“If we need one on every corner in every street in the state of Pennsylvania,” Rubin told the Inqy. “We will do it. We won’t quit.”

(Jay-Z also penned an op-ed on the New York Times riffing on the justice system and the injustices that led to Mill’s arrest and subsequent sentencing.)

Rubin, part-owner of the Sixers, also served as a character witness for the rapper, describing a close personal relationship born after an NBA All-Star game.

The tech scene, though, knows Rubin as the exec behind one of Philly tech’s biggest exits. The founder’s King of Prussia, Pa.-based company was acquired by eBay for a total of $2.4 billion in cash and debt in March 2011. He’s since invested in Philly companies like Sidecar.

Read the full story
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Donate to the Journalism Fund

Your support powers our independent journalism. Unlike most business-media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational contributions.

Trending

What internet speed do you really need?

How DC protesters are protecting themselves online while calling out the Trump administration

Developing tech for government agencies? Participant advisory councils can help get it right.

A car accident changed this engineer’s career trajectory — and mission 

Technically Media