article by Courtney Connley via blackenterprise.com
As a University of Delaware finance major, Drew Hawkins recognized his love for stock markets and investing early.
After stumbling into the university’s career planning office, Hawkins was informed of a two-year unpaid internship with Morgan Stanley, then known as Dean Witter. He came on board as an intern in 1989 and as the cliché saying goes, ‘the rest is history.’
“I can remember my first couple of weeks where I saw things that intrigued me and some I found disappointing,” said Hawkins. “Number one, I didn’t see many African American financial advisors and I didn’t see that many African American clients.”
In an effort to change that dynamic, Hawkins worked his way up from intern, to financial advisor to eventually being named the first African American managing director in Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management business in 2008. Now, as head of the company’s global sports and entertainment division, which has approximately $37 billion in assets, Hawkins opens up to BlackEnterprise.com about his journey to climbing the corporate ladder.
BlackEnterprise.com: Talk about your journey to climbing the ranks at Morgan Stanley.
Hawkins: My career started out as a financial advisor. I received a call from my regional director one day who said I want you to come into my office and take the assessment exam to consider going into management. While the thought of going into a management role where I give up my entrepreneurial hustle was not compelling, it was coming from someone I respected a lot and being in management gave me the opportunity to lead and bring others into the industry.
Are there any specific challenges you faced as an African American?
There are things that are unique with being a person of color in this industry. There were some [people] I could connect with from a management perspective and get sound advice, but still they could not speak to my experiences because they hadn’t walked in my shoes. I had the experience of being the first black managing director in Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management business, and while I was excited to attain that title it was still a bit startling that in 2008 I was the first for that to occur. Fortunately, we’ve had a lot of others come in since then.
To read full article, go to: http://www.blackenterprise.com/career/drew-hawkins-intern-managing-director-morgan-stanley/
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Can a company pay its workers well and also make money? Many aren’t quite hitting the right balance. Hundreds of dissatisfied workers at major American companies like Wal-Mart (WMT), McDonald’s (MCD) and Wendy’s (WEN) have joined protests nationwide in the past year demanding higher wages and better benefits. One company that hasn’t had to deal with such strikes is Costco (COST).
The no-frills warehouse chain pays its hourly workers an average of just over $20 an hour, compared to just under $13 at competitor Wal-Mart. Even President Obama praised Costco in a recent speech about helping the middle class. The recession has been good for companies that targeted budget-minded customers. Sales at Costco have grown an average of 13% annually since 2009, while profits have risen 15%. Its stock price has more than doubled since 2009.
During the same period, discount retailer Wal-Mart’s sales grew an average of 4.5% each year, profits rose 7%, and its stock price increased 70%. Costco seems to be investing some of those profits back into its employees. Cesar Martinez, a 37-year-old fork lift operator, has worked at a Costco in North Carolina for 19 years. He makes $22.82 an hour, gets health benefits and a pension plan. He manages to save, and doesn’t worry about hospital bills for his daughter, who suffers from asthma.
Everyone should know this by now: Never count Oprah out. Oprah Winfrey returns to the top of Forbes’ annual Celebrity 100 ranking of the most powerful celebrities after two years in second place. She leads a female-dominated top 10 that includes Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Madonna, Taylor Swift and Ellen DeGeneres.
Even without her eponymous daytime talk show, Winfrey made an estimated $77 million between June 2012 and June 2013, down from last year’s $165 million. While she wasn’t the highest earner on Forbes’ list, her money, mixed with strong fame scores in metrics like press mentions and social networking power, pushed her to the top.
NBC New York – Jay-Z is part of a group trying to renovate Nassau Coliseum. The music mogul attended a meeting Thursday on Long Island, where the media was briefed on four proposals to renovate the arena and surrounding property. Nassau County officials have been trying to come up with a plan to redevelop the 40-year-old arena for many years. Its primary tenant, the New York Islanders hockey team, is moving to the new arena in Brooklyn when its lease expires in 2015. Jay-Z’s Roc Nation is part of a group that built Barclays Arena and is bidding for the Long Island project.
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article via thegrio.com
WASHINGTON – President Obama on Wednesday nominated Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, to become the overseer of the government-backed mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. If approved by the Senate, Mr. Watt would replace Edward J. DeMarco, who has been acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency for more than three years.
Mr. Watt is a lawyer who has represented North Carolina in Congress for the last two decades. If he won Senate confirmation, he would become a powerful economic policy maker, as the housing market recovers and the White House contemplates the government’s future role in it. “Mel understands as well as anybody what caused the housing crisis,” Mr. Obama said in a ceremony in the State Dining Room of the White House. “He knows what it’s going to take to help responsible homeowners fully recover and he’s committed to helping folks just like his mom,” who attended the ceremony, and whom Mr.Obama characterized as “Americans who work really hard, play by the rules, day in and day out, to provide for their families.”
African-Americans have little-to-no representation in the technology sector, especially when it comes to dot-com businesses. Fortunately, William Michael Cunningham has created a platform specifically for African-Americans and women of all races.BlackCrowdFunding.net allows is a new crowdfunding platform that allows people to contribute to ventures created by African-Americans and/or women of all races.
In a recent interview with the Washington Post, Cunningham discussed the nature of his business. “Most people start a business by taking out loans on their houses or going to friends and family and raising money that way,” Cunningham said. “If you’re in a demographic where your housing wealth has been impacted significantly negatively, then that’s less of an option with respect to raising capital.”
Crowdfunding has been known to launch very successful projects, including the YouTube series “The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl.” Cunningham said that crowdfunding presents a more promising option. Incase you’re unfamiliar with the term crowdfunding, it’s a method by which an entrepreneur can raise money for his or her start-up online by collecting small investments or donations from a large number of people. “The idea is that crowdfunding is a tool that can be used to get resources to low to moderate income communities in way that we haven’t seen before,” Cunningham said.
The site already has a number of ventures seeking funding, including an education on identity theft, a boutique, a garden, and a pride t-shirt, and more.
article by Maria Lloyd via techyville.com
(Photo courtesy of Mark Seliger for TIME)
Power couple Jay-Z and Beyoncé have recently been making lots of headlines lately, and now the rapper is gracing the cover of Time. Both he and wife Beyoncé have been named by the magazine as two of the world’s most influential people.
The annual feature lists 100 of the world’s most prominent figures, in no particular order, who have made the biggest global impact over the past year. The issue, which includes Jay-Z on one of seven covers, also provides brief profiles that capture the essence of each qualifier.
Carmelo Anthony #7 of the New York Knicks in action against the Los Angeles Clippers during their game at Madison Square Garden on February 10, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
NEW YORK (AP) — Carmelo Anthony now tops the NBA’s scoring race and its most popular jerseys list. Anthony took over the No. 1 spot on the league’s sales list Tuesday, moving past MVP LeBron James and becoming the first Knicks player at the top since the first list was released in 2001-02.
Anthony was No. 4 last year on the list, which is based on sales at the NBA Store in New York and on NBAStore.com since last November. The reigning Eastern Conference player of the week edged past Kevin Durant in the scoring race after averaging 41.8 points last week. Durant was third on the jersey sales list, followed by seven-time No. 1 Kobe Bryant and Derrick Rose. The Knicks remained first in team sales, followed by Miami and the Lakers.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press via thegrio.com
Jay-Z has released more No. 1 albums in his career than any other solo artist– eleven, to be exact. He hasn’t released a new record yet this year, but he’s been very active on the business front. Recent announcements include a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell, a summer tour with Justin Timberlake and the launch of Roc Nation Sports, with Robinson Cano as its first client.
Today, the hit parade continues. Universal Music Group announced a global partnership with Roc Nation, the label Jay-Z founded in 2008 as part of a $150 million deal with concert promoter Live Nation. The world’s largest record company lured the hip-hop mogul away from Sony Music, which had been distributing Roc Nation’s releases previously.
“This agreement presents a unique opportunity for Roc Nation’s artists—being able to continue to operate as an independent label with the strength, power and reach of the best major,” said Jay-Z in a statement. “I look forward to a long and prosperous collaboration with UMG.”
Jay-Z welcomes a new member into the Roc Nation family. Earlier today it was announced that world champion Robinson Cano, second baseman of the New York Yankees signed to Jay-Z’s latest venture, Roc Nation Sports. Life and Times reports:
“Because of my love of sports, it was a natural progression to form a company where we can help top athletes in various sports the same way we have been helping artists in the music industry for years,” says Shawn “JAY Z” Carter about the new venture.
The Yankee Slugger also told the press he is ready to take control of his career, and this move makes that possible.
“At this point in my career, I am ready to take a more active role in my endeavors both on and off the field,” said Cano. “I am confident that the pairing of Roc Nation Sports and CAA Sports will be essential in helping me accomplish my short- and long-term goals. I am making this important decision now so I can keep my focus on helping the Yankees succeed in 2013, while minimizing any distractions for me and my teammates.”
article by BlogXilla via globalgrind.com