Black Elites

Markets, capital and the companies redefining the global economy.

Deep reporting on the deals, firms and industries where the next chapter of wealth is being written.

In business

Where Black Entrepreneurs Are Actually Finding Funding Today

For Black entrepreneurs, the most visible form of business capital is still venture capital. It is also one of the least representative of where most Black-owned businesses actually get money...

How Byron Allen Turned Hollywood’s Closed Doors Into a Media Empire

Back in the 1990s, Byron Allen was just a comedian trying to get TV stations to air his shows. His first attempt at building a company ended in bankruptcy. His house nearly went into foreclosure. More...

LLC vs. Sole Proprietorship: Which Is Better for Black Entrepreneurs?

Imagine a freelance designer. They start making $3,000 a month from a home office. At first, it’s simple. Money comes in. Expenses go out. Everything runs under the owner’s legal name...

How Shaquille O’Neal Turned Childhood Adversity Into a Lasting Business Empire

Long before Shaquille O’Neal became one of the world’s most recognizable athletes and businessmen, he was a child growing up in a low-income household, moving frequently as his stepfather...

10 Essential Steps to Starting a Business as a Black Entrepreneur in America

Black entrepreneurship is growing faster than most headlines let on. The Kauffman Foundation found that 0.45 percent of Black adults aged 20 to 64 started a business in an average month in 2025...

What Rich Paul Understood About Player Empowerment Before the Sports Industry Did

For decades, sports worked on an unwritten rule: teams held the power, players took what they were offered. Free agency loosened that grip a little, sure. But most agents still just fought for bigger...

The Best States in America for Black-Owned Startups in 2026

Black entrepreneurship is blowing up right now. Still, building a company you can actually scale looks wildly different depending on where you drop your pin on the map. Back in 2023, the count of...

From Lab Technician to Fortune 500 CEO, Roz Brewer Never Stopped Rising

Roz Brewer didn’t climb some neat corporate ladder. She kept jumping into messier, bigger problems on purpose. Twenty-two years at Kimberly-Clark. Started as a scientist. Ended up running the Global...

Instead of Reinventing Lowe’s, Marvin Ellison Fixed the Fundamentals 

When Ellison stepped in as CEO back in July 2018, Lowe’s was making money, but it was all over the place. Home Depot was beating them on sales. Core retail tech was falling behind. Activist investors...