- A billionaire-backed exclusive members’ club, Soho House, received almost $22 million through the US government’s coronavirus loan scheme for small businesses, new data shows.
- The Trump administration’s paycheck protection program (PPP) sanctioned six different loans to the private members’ club, which has a value of $2 billion.
- American billionaire Ron Burkle, Soho House’s biggest investor, last month led an investment round worth $100 million to shore up finances for the group, which caters to the creative elite.
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London-based Soho House, a selective private members’ club for those in the arts and media, received almost $22 million through the Trump administration’s coronavirus bailout program, new records showed on Monday.
The exclusive club received six different loans of between $350,000 and $10 million under the government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The loans were for its locations in Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and New York.
The $670 billion PPP was approved in March to help small businesses through the coronavirus crisis. According to newly released data, the program issued 4,885,388 loans totaling almost $520 billion.
Soho House, valued at $2 billion, managed to save 1,996 jobs in the US because of the funding it received.
The club has explored a public listing in New York for the past several years. It prides itself on luxury, and its clubs offer gyms, restaurants, and other facilities to members.
Last month, American billionaire Ron Burkle, Soho House’s biggest investor, led an investment round of £81 million ($100 million) to boost its finance after the pandemic hit the company’s bottom line.
The group told Bloomberg it was participating in government loans and furlough programs “across the world.”
“We are, like so many businesses, racking up loss every day,” it said in a statement to the news agency.
“Banks and landlords have deferred payments, shareholders have injected money, suppliers have been flexible, our senior team has taken pay cuts that have been invested into a Soho Impact Support Fund, and, crucially, our incredible members have stayed loyal to our Houses and the teams that work there.”
You can view and download loan data on the Small Business Administration website here.
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