Toms Shoes Founder and Former CEO Blake Mycoskie Explains Why He Is Donating $100 Million to Psychedelics Research
Blake Mycoskie, founder and former CEO of Toms, talked to Bloomberg about his decision to pledge $100 million to psychedelic drug research. In a new interview for the publication’s “The Dose” newsletter, Mycoskie discussed his choice to distribute the aforementioned money — a quarter of his current net wealth — to a range of institutions, including Atai, Empath and WonderMed, as well as nonprofits including the Healing Advocacy Fund, Sunstone Therapies and the Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund.
Originally declared in January, Mysockie is now working to bring funding to these organizations to support medical research that’s investigating how psychedelic drugs can be used to treat conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and mental health concerns.
“It feels right, because the industry still feels nascent,” Mycoskie tells journalist Tiffany Kary in the article. “And that could change if there was a huge opportunity, if we needed a huge campaign push. It’s a bit opportunistic. More donors are waiting for more regulatory and clinical-trial success and science. Personally, I don’t think we need that. I think work from Johns Hopkins and New York University shows, we know this stuff works. This isn’t a drug, this is a medicine when given with the proper therapy. That’s my mantra.”
In his interview, Mycoskie also delved into how his larger donation will be distributed. Currently, he plans to donate $5 million annually until the $100 million is gone, with a 70-to-30% split between, respectively, nonprofits and for-profits. $11 million has already been given away; so far, close to $1.5 million has been invested in for-profit companies, while close to $9.5 million has been invested in nonprofits.
Mycoskie is also looking towards the future with organizing additional donations to a wide variety of companies, including the emergency hotline Fireside Project and a Berkeley study with Michael Pollan on the benefits of psychedelic drugs used outside of therapy. He’s anticipating creating a fund with a board to determine the best psychedelic nonprofits for others to donate to, as well, with advice by the Psychedelic Science Funders Collaborative (PSFC).
“I envision a fund where high-net-worth donors or foundations could give with confidence that the board is investing in the right nonprofits,” Mycoskie said. “But that plan is a couple years out — I need some other big high-net-worth donors to step up — with $50 million to $100 million pledges. If so, we could do it. I really believe that getting more donors and foundations to feel comfortable is important.”
Previously, Mycoskie also launched the wellness subscription-based box program Madefor in 2020, following his departure as Toms‘ CEO in 2019.
About the Author:
Aaron Royce is the Digital Editor for Footwear News, where he writes stories on trending news, celebrity style, collaborations and in-depth profile interviews. Prior to joining Footwear News, Aaron wrote and interned for publications including PAPER, Grazia and the Daily Front Row. He currently holds a B.S. in mass communications from Virginia Commonwealth University.