Black Elites

Founders. Visionaries. Industry Leaders.

Discover the people building enduring companies and shaping the future of business. Through in-depth interviews, founder stories, business playbooks, and behind-the-scenes insights, Black Elites Profiles explores the journeys, strategies, and lessons of entrepreneurs and executives creating the next generation of category-defining brands.

In Profile

Stephen Curry’s 3 Rules That Forced the NBA Hall of Fame to Make an Exception

For several years, an unwritten rule existed in the basketball sport. The Hall of Fame was meant for retired guys. Even the absolute biggest stars of the game have to wait till retirement to get...

Leonard Tatum: The Man Who Gave Indies the Weapon Big Tech Hoarded

Back in the mid-2010s, making mobile games wasn’t a business. It was a brawl. Big corporations sat on user data like dragons guarding gold. Independent developers? They were flying blind. No...

How Riana Lynn Turned Doubt Into an AI Platform Powering Food Innovation Across 122 Countries

For decades, the global food industry flew blind. Scattered data. Slow lab testing. Pure intuition. That’s how companies tackled everything from product formulation to food allergies. AI was already...

How Aisha Bowe Went From Being Told College Wasn’t for Her to Becoming a NASA Rocket Scientist

A guidance counsellor once told Aisha Bowe that college might not be for her. Years later, she would become a NASA rocket scientist and one of the few Black women to travel to space.. At that time...

How Cortney Woodruff Is Helping Black Founders Turn an Unfair Tech System Into a Massive Win

In the heart of the post-2020 tech boom, a stark statistical reality defined the American startup ecosystem: only 0.32% of total U.S. venture capital—roughly $942 million—was allocated to startups...

Inside Richard Parsons’ Turnaround of Time Warner Following the Failed $165 Billion AOL-Time Warner Merger

Richard Parsons took over a company struggling from one of corporate America’s worst mergers. By the end of 2002, AOL Time Warner reported what was then the largest annual corporate loss in U.S...

How Christopher J. Williams Built a Firm That Helped Underwrite Over $330 Billion in Corporate Offerings

Christopher J. Williams recognized an opportunity where others saw a closed market. In 2001, he founded The Williams Capital Group with a strategy focused on institutional transactions, with expertise...

The Anti-Ad Strategy: How Elfried Samba Turned Organic Followers into a Billion-Dollar Asset

In 2015, the fitness apparel market was a bloodbath. Nike and Adidas dominated with massive advertising budgets, while Gymshark was a struggling UK startup with £8 million in revenue and a problem:...

How T.I. Liquidated His Rap Crown to Build a $50 Million Corporate Empire

By 2026, Clifford “T.I.” Harris Jr. had spent over two decades dictating the terms of Southern hip-hop. The industry playbook for a 45-year-old rap icon is predictable: a nostalgic legacy tour, a few...