GloriFi — an “anti-woke” bank endorsed by right-wing media figure Candace Owens and supported by millions in startup funds, raised with help from gay right-wing billionaire Peter Thiel — has shut down barely a month after it launched.
GloriFi advertised itself as a bank where investors would be “free to celebrate your love of God and country without fear of cancellation.” It promised its financial backers a user base filled with “plumbers, electricians and police officers,” who “are fed up with big banks that don’t share their values,” Rolling Stone reported.
However, the bank continually pushed its launch date back. It opened in September. Now, barely a month later, it has shut down.
The company’s one-page website now reads, “the Board of Directors and leadership of GloriFi have come to the heartbreaking conclusion that we need to begin winding down the company’s operations.”
GloriFi’s Chief Marketing Officer Cathy Landtrop blamed the start-up’s failure on “financial challenges related to startup mistakes, the failing economy, reputational attacks, and multiple negative stories.”
The bank “promised checking and savings accounts and debit cards for conservatives,” The Root reported, but “it was so concerned with pushing a culture-wars narrative that it forgot that banks in startup mode are supposed to be focused primarily on one thing: offering attractive rates on deposits to bring in new customer accounts and to be able to expand to more products like car loans and mortgages.”
The company’s website now instructs its investors on how to receive their funds back. So much for celebrating “your love of God and country without fear of cancellation.”