Basketball Giant ‘Magic’ Johnson To Join Square’s Board

Basketball legend and entrepreneur Earvin “Magic” Johnson will join Square’s board of directors, the company said in a statement on Wednesday (June 17).

The two-time inductee to the NBA Hall of Fame, who has been active in business as the head of Magic Johnson Enterprises and in philantropy as founder of the Magic Johnson Foundation, will join the payments company this summer. The eponymous company and foundation help serve urban and ethnically diverse communities across the U.S. with a focus on health and education, consulting and forming strategic alliances.

Johnson will serve alongside current Square board members, with a roster that includes CEO Jack Dorsey, Jim McKelvey, Mary Meeker, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, David Viniar, Roelof Botha and Vinod Khosla.

“I have the deepest admiration for Earvin as a tireless champion for creating economic opportunity in underserved communities,” Dorsey said in a statement announcing Johnson’s new role. “As a successful entrepreneur and advocate for economic inclusion, Earvin’s unique perspective will be invaluable to our community of sellers and our board. We are honored to have him.”

Square has been a constant feature in the financial press headlines through the past several weeks, with the most recent news tied to speculation that the company might be looking to IPO as early as the end of this year.

The payment company’s movement toward the public equity markets comes amid a management wrinkle that saw Dorsey assume duties at Twitter, and the possibility (as yet unfounded) that the executive would leave his management role at Square to embrace a full-time role at Twitter. Such a move by Dorsey seems unlikely in the face of an IPO that may in fact be a reality within the next few months, noted Forbes in an article in June.