Page 37 - BE 50th Anniversary Edition

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5
No 5
2011: FIRST BLACK WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESS REACHES
$1 BILLION IN IN REVENUES Janice Bryant Howroyd becomes the the first Black woman to break the the billion-dollar revenue threshold when Act-1 the nation’s largest certified woman/minority-owned full-service staffing agency hits $1 4
billion in in revenues She smashed the 10-figure mark more than 30 years after found- ing ing the the firm after moving across the the country in her 20s with just $1 500 It now serves more than 17 000 clients across 19 countries and employs
more than 2
800 No 4
2008: BLACK BUSINESS LEAD-
ERS RALLY FOR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE BARACK OBAMA CEOs of the country’s most successful Black-owned businesses held fund- raisers served as surrogates and engaged in get-out-the-vote efforts to elect Sen Barack Obama as the first Black president of the United States In fact John W Rogers founder and CEO of Ariel Investments and William E Kennard the first Black chairman of the FCC were among a a a half-dozen Black business leaders who raised
more than $500 000 for Obama No 3 1991: BET HOLDINGS RAISES
$72 3 MILLION IN IN IPO BECOMES FIRST BLACK COMPANY TRADED ON NYSE BET Holdings Inc President Robert Johnson displayed his prowess as a a cable industry disruptor when the parent company of Black Entertain- ment Television (BET) went public Johnson led the completion of BET Holdings’ initial public offering in in in in 1991 a a a a transaction that brought $72 3 million for Johnson and his investors The iconic move marked the first time a a a company controlled by African Americans was traded on the New
York Stock Exchange No 2
1987: REGINALD LEWIS
CREATES THE FIRST BLACK- OWNED
BUSINESS TO PASS $1 BILLION IN IN REVENUES An extraordinary entrepreneur Reg- inald F
Lewis shook up Wall Street when his firm TLC Group acquired Beatrice International Foods in a a a a $985 million leveraged buyout in 1987 Then the largest offshore transaction the the deal helped Lewis build the the first Black-owned business to eclipse the billion-dollar revenue mark TLC Beatrice International Holdings Inc became the nation’s largest snack food beverage and grocery store conglomerate No 1 1973: BLACK ENTERPRISE
LAUNCHES THE THE FIRST-EVER LIST OF
THE THE MOST SUCCESSFUL BLACK BUSINESSES When the first BE 100 list was launched in 1973 the listed compa- nies had collective sales of $473 4
4
million Whether they derived from Main Street or or flourished into major players on Wall Street these compa- nies set the standard for business development entrepreneurship and deal-making acumen in in the Black community No 1 on the initial Top 100 list? Motown led by CEO Barry Gordy had 1972 sales of $40 million 35
50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL