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Prince Harry now a tech exec at a Silicon Valley startup

The duke will be working at a San Francisco-based company focused on mental health.

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Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. He's been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late '70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers.
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Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, talk with Oprah Winfrey earlier this month.

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You may now address Prince Harry by a new title: chief impact officer.

That's the job the Duke of Sussex has taken at BetterUp, a San Francisco-based startup focused on coaching and mental health. BetterUp "brings together world-class coaching, AI technology, and behavioral science experts" to help people live "more meaningful, vibrant lives with greater clarity, purpose, and passion," the company says on its website.

On Wednesday, it was also revealed that Harry would be a commissioner for the Aspen Institute's new Commission on Information Disorder. The group -- which is co-chaired by journalist Katie Couric, former CISA director Chris Krebs and Color of Change President Rashad Robinson -- will conduct a six-month study on misinformation in America and will "deliver recommendations for how the country can respond to this modern-day crisis of faith in key institutions."

Harry, who is no longer a working member of the British royal family, has been outspoken about his mental health struggles following the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a Paris car crash in 1997. The duke's new job, reported earlier Tuesday by The Wall Street Journal, comes on the heels of an explosive interview he and his wife, Meghan Markle, gave to Oprah Winfrey earlier this month.

The duke said in a statement that he is "really excited" to be joining BetterUp.

"I firmly believe that focusing on and prioritising our mental fitness unlocks potential and opportunity that we never knew we had inside of us," he said in a statement posted to the company's website.

BetterUp, founded in 2013, has about 270 employees. In February, it announced it had completed $125 million in Series D fundraising, giving it a valuation of $1.73 billion. But Harry's role in the company won't include managing direct reports, focusing instead on product strategy and corporate giving.

"His insight and unique experience is hard to put into words. That's where we're focused and designed the role around," said BetterUp CEO Alexi Robichaux in an interview with CNN on Wednesday, also saying they decided on the title of chief impact officer together. Robichaux declined to discuss compensation. 

Harry has in recent years criticized British tabloids for negative coverage of his wife, who told Winfrey earlier this month that she endured "constant" suicidal thoughts and that no one in the palace would help her.

Since relocating to California last year, the royal couple has also signed big deals with Netflix and Spotify.