45 greatest moments in black business

A Moment in Black History: Earl Graves Sr. and Magic Johnson Close $60M Deal to Create Largest Black Pepsi Franchise

Derek T. DingleFebruary 22, 2023February 24, 2023

by Derek T. DingleFebruary 22, 2023February 24, 20234666

28 Days: Celebrating Black Business Icons Past and Present: BE Publisher Graves and Earvin "Magic" Johnson partner with Pepsi-Cola to establish Pepsi-Cola of Washington, D.C.,...

Entrepreneurship

Great Moments in Black Business – No. 1: Black Enterprise Launches First Listing of Nation’s Most Successful Black Businesses, The ‘BE 100s’

Jeffrey McKinneyJanuary 27, 2019August 15, 2022

by Jeffrey McKinneyJanuary 27, 2019August 15, 20222116

When the 2018 Black Enterprise list of the most successful black businesses was revealed (the 'BE 100s'), the companies listed had combined revenues exceeding $30 billion....

Entrepreneurship

45 GREAT MOMENTS IN BLACK BUSINESS – NO. 2: First Black-Owned Business Exceeds $1B Revenue

Jeffrey McKinneyJanuary 13, 2019August 15, 2022

by Jeffrey McKinneyJanuary 13, 2019August 15, 20222470

In 1987, Reginald F. Lewis rocks Wall Street when TLC Group’s acquisition of Beatrice International Foods in a $985 million leveraged buyout, the largest offshore...

Entrepreneurship

45 GREAT MOMENTS IN BLACK BUSINESS – NO. 3: BET Holdings $72.3M in IPO

Jeffrey McKinneyJanuary 12, 2019January 12, 2019

by Jeffrey McKinneyJanuary 12, 2019January 12, 20193648

Black Business History: In 1991: BET Holdings, the parent company of Black Entertainment Television, raises $72.3 million in an initial public offering, making it the...

Entrepreneurship

45 GREAT MOMENTS IN BLACK BUSINESS – NO. 4: Black Business Leaders Rally for Obama

Jeffrey McKinneyJanuary 6, 2019January 4, 2019

by Jeffrey McKinneyJanuary 6, 2019January 4, 20192678

2008: CEOs of the country’s most successful black-owned businesses held fundraisers, served as surrogates, and engaged in get-out-the-vote efforts to elect Sen. Barack Obama as...

Entrepreneurship

45 GREAT MOMENTS IN BLACK BUSINESS – No. 5: BET Sells for $3 Billion Creating America’s First Black Billionaire

Jeffrey McKinneyAugust 12, 2018August 10, 2018

by Jeffrey McKinneyAugust 12, 2018August 10, 201816485

In clinching a deal that made him America's first black billionaire, entrepreneur Robert Johnson led the sale of the nation's largest black-owned cable channel, BET,...

Career Entrepreneurship Leadership Lifestyle

45 GREAT MOMENTS IN BLACK BUSINESS – No. 6: Maynard Jackson Becomes Atlanta’s First Black Mayor

Jeffrey McKinneyAugust 10, 2018August 10, 2018

by Jeffrey McKinneyAugust 10, 2018August 10, 20182647

As a business pioneer, politician, and entrepreneur, Maynard Jackson was a disrupter in his day. After being elected Atlanta's first black mayor in 1973, Jackson...

Entrepreneurship

45 GREAT MOMENTS IN BLACK BUSINESS – No. 7: Black-Owned Investment Banks Help Restore Economy

Jeffrey McKinneyAugust 5, 2018June 5, 2019

by Jeffrey McKinneyAugust 5, 2018June 5, 20191939

Several leading black-owned investment banks worked with the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department to restore the economy during the recession to making credit available and...

Career Leadership

45 GREAT MOMENTS IN BLACK BUSINESS – NO. 8: Black Business Leaders Rebuke Japanese Prime Minister’s Racist Remarks

Jeffrey McKinneyJuly 26, 2018July 26, 2018

by Jeffrey McKinneyJuly 26, 2018July 26, 20181804

After making what many considered derogatory remarks about blacks and other American ethnic groups, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone got a strong rebuttal from some...

GREAT MOMENTS IN BLACK BUSINESS – NO. 9: Hip-Hop Emerges as Economic Force

Jeffrey McKinneyJuly 24, 2018August 4, 2023

by Jeffrey McKinneyJuly 24, 2018August 4, 20232189

The leader of this business and cultural phenomenon that is hip-hop is none other than BE 100s CEO Russell Simmons, head of 2002 Industrial/Service Company...