Black Elites

The executives and thinkers setting the standard.

Interviews, essays and reporting from the boardrooms where the next decade is being decided.

In Leadership

How Tiafoe and Shelton Made History in the First All-Black US Open Semifinal

Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton reached Arthur Ashe Stadium through very different parts of American tennis. Their semifinal guarantees a breakthrough not seen in more than five decades. At 3:33 on...

Jaylen Brown’s Radical Plan to Force NBA Stars to Invest Locally

Jaylen Brown agreed to the richest contract in NBA history when somebody asked what he planned to do with the money. The five-year extension, signed with the Boston Celtics in July 2023, was worth...

Why Raven-Symoné’s Recent Comments Have the Internet Redefining Blackness

The viral clip isn’t really about whether Raven Baxter was Black. What it exposes is a harder disagreement over who gets to define what a character means culturally — the performer, the script...

The Victoria Monét Renaissance: How the Songwriter Became an R&B Superstar

For years, Victoria Monét made her living from songs that became famous in other people’s voices. Ariana Grande recorded several of them: “thank u, next,” “7 rings,”...

From Moonlight to Emmy Winner: The Transformative Roles of Jharrel Jerome

Jharrel Jerome arrived at his audition for When They See Us expecting to read Korey Wise at 16. Partway through, Ava DuVernay asked him to try the adult scenes. The request had not been mentioned...

The Coco Jones Renaissance: How She Reclaimed Her Career and Conquered R&B

Somebody asked Coco Jones, in 2020, what happened to her career. Not gently either — it was one of those comments that’s blunt because the person genuinely doesn’t know, not because...

After the NBA: John Celestand’s Journey Into Media Leadership 

John Celestand won an NBA championship, but he didn’t spend the rest of his life coasting on it. He didn’t lock himself into a forever career in front of the camera, either. After nearly a...

When Cars Became Software, Olabisi Boyle Was Already There

For decades, the formula for reaching the top in automotive was simple: master engineering, manufacturing, and product development. Brand strategy and customer experience were someone else’s...

How Buying His First Stock at 30 Led Stanley Rameau to Build Renavest

Every investor has an origin story: the stock that flipped a switch somewhere in their head. Stanley Rameau’s switch flipped late. He was 30 when he bought his first share. Not 22. Not fresh out...