'Anti-woke' bank founded by Kelly Loeffler and GOP strategist goes bust: report

On Wednesday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitutionreported that an "anti-woke" bank founded by a longtime Republican campaign strategist and a former Republican senator from Georgia had gone bust.

Nick Ayers, who previously served as chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence and helped advise the failed election-denialist primary challenge by former Georgia Sen. David Perdue against Gov. Brian Kemp, founded the bank, GloriFi, in large part with money from former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler.

"Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journalreported that GloriFi, the 'anti-woke' bank that Ayers co-founded, has laid off most of its employees and is set to shut down," said the report. "The Journal first reported about many GloriFi’s troubles last month, and noted that one of the deep-pocketed investors in the venture was former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler."

GloriFi, which was based in Texas, reportedly ran out of money, as a funding deal they were hoping would keep them solvent through the first quarter failed.

"The startup ... initially aimed to launch with bank accounts, credit cards, mortgages and insurance, while touting what it called pro-America values such as capitalism, family, law enforcement and the freedom to 'celebrate your love of God and country,'" reported AnnaMaria Andriotis and Rachel Louise Ensign for the Journal. “Within months, the investors’ money was nearly gone, and GloriFi was on the verge of bankruptcy.”

Both Perdue and Loeffler were defeated in a double-barrel Senate runoff in 2021 between Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock, the latter of whom is currently in a runoff against Trump-backed former NFL star Herschel Walker to be elected to a full term.