STOPit App: Fresh Off Tiger Global Success, Derek Jeter Now Helping Compliance Side

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Former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter is an investor in New York-based startup STOPit, which is set to announce a new product designed to help whistle blowers.

Jeter won five Gold Glove awards for his defense, but has now turned his attention to investments. STOPit is set to announce that its latest product is designed for financial institutions and other corporations, who wish to allow employees to expose unethical behavior in an anonymous way, writes Peter Rudegeair for The Wall Street Journal.

STOPit aims to help anonymous whistle blowing

In January 2014 STOPit launched with a smartphone app that aimed to stop cyberbullying by encouraging students to anonymously report instances of online bullying. Jeter also runs the Turn 2 Foundation, which partnered with STOPit in June 2015 by sending anti-bullying ambassadors to its schools.

Todd Schobel, founder and chief executive of STOPit, said that it was natural to extend the company vision into the workplace. “Before all the employees walk out of the building holding a white box because of a few bad actors doing some fraudulent things, maybe the person next to you sees what goes on” and reports it, Mr. Schobel said.

U.S. Department of Defense contractor AASKI Technology is the first to use STOPit PRO. Schobel has also been meeting with financial executives to show them how their companies could benefit.

 

Financial institutions stand to benefit by uncovering unethical beahvior

In recent years authorities have been investigating financial institutions for a number of crimes. In 2014 U.S. and European banks agreed to pay $65 billion in fines due to malpractice, a 40% increase over the previous year.

“Being a chief risk officer right now in the financial industry is a real tough spot to be in. We absolutely cater to that,” Mr. Schobel said.

Jeter was not available for an interview about STOPit PRO, but it is not his only involvement in the financial world. Hedge fund Tiger Global Investments has also looked to the former baseball star for advice (investment advice?). So it seems that after his success at Tiger Global, Jeter is now going to help some lucky compliance officers.

Tiger said that it had sent its managers to meet with Jeter in order to ask him for advice on how to perform consistently well. The hedge fund claimed that it would keep looking for ways to improve, and cited Jeter as an inspiration for his hard training, humble demeanor which kept him on the field and saw him play “like he was competing for his job.”

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