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BILLIONAIRES ROW:

L-R: Robert Johnson      Oprah Winfrey              Michael Chin              Sheila Johnson

In 2000, Robert Johnson, founder of BET cable network, sold the network to Viacom for close to $3 billion dollars, this deal made him a instant billionaire.  In December 2002, Johnson made history by becoming the first minority with a majority ownership in a basketball franchise.  As the director of Hilton Hotels Corporation, Johnson became the first African-American to obtain a Nevada gaming license.  Johnson currently owns and operates several Hilton Resorts.  His current wealth is estimated at $1.5 billion dollars.

The two most powerful women in the world are of African-American descent.  Condoleeza Rice and Oprah Winfrey.  Winfrey reached billionaire status last year.  She has the most successful talk show in history, she nets over $100 million per year off of her talk show alone.  She has produced a string of hits through HARPO productions and her book club is the most successful book club in the world.  Her magazine "O" is the most successful publication in publishing history.  Her current wealth is estimated at $1.2 billion dollars.

Jamaican born Michael Lee Chin is a self-made billionaire.  He acquired AIC Limited in 1987.  Over the years he has built the organization into Canada's leading mutual fund company.  In 1998, the company grossed a staggering $12 billion dollars.  Chin and Johnnie Cochran recently co-founded a sports and entertainment agency.  His current wealth is estimated at $1.7 billion dollars.

Dr. Sheila Crump Johnson is the co-founder of the BET network.  Sheila and her ex-husband Robert split $3 billion in proceeds right down the middle prior to their divorce.  She became the first African-American woman to built a luxury resort on property she paid $7 million dollars for.  She owns 13 show horses and she is the President of Washington International Horse Show, Johnson also has extensive real estate holdings.  She is also a designer and a photographer.  Her current wealth is estimated at $1.5 billion dollars.

HONORABLE MENTION:

         Reginald F. Lewis

Reginald Lewis would have become the first black billionaire if he would not have succumbed to brain cancer at the age of 50 in 1993.  At the time of his death, he was the richest African-American in U.S. history.  Lewis started out as a attorney and became the first black man to head his own law firm on Wall Street.  In 1987, he mastered a $1 billion dollar purchase of TLC Beatrice, a giant food distributor with 64 companies in 34 countries.  Lewis would go on to run a business empire spanning four continents.

In his spare time, he mentored African-American students and entrepreneurs.  Lewis donated $1 million dollars to Howard University and $3 million to Harvard Law School where a building is named in his honor.  He holds the distinction of the being the only African-American with a building named in his honor on a Ivy League campus.

In the early 90's, Lewis tried unsuccessfully to buy the Baltimore Orioles.  After his death, his brother and his widow Loida ran TLC Beatrice, they would eventually sale the company for billions.  At the time of his death, Reginald Lewis was worth $500 million dollars.

SECRET SOCIETY:

The "Boule" is based on a society founded at Yale University called "Skull & Bones."  This Yale Fraternity yielded U.S. Presidents, Supreme Court Justices, Governors, Senators, athletes and actors.  Some of the most powerful men on the planet are members of "Skulls & Bones."  The "Boule" is the black equivalent of "Skulls & Bones."

The "Boule" was founded on May 15th, 1904 by Dr. Henry Minton, the "Boule" was the first black fraternity in America.  The "Boule"currently has 101 chapters in the world and 4,100 members who make up the wealthiest black men on this planet.

It is difficult and nearly impossible to get members to comment on this secret society of wealthy black men.  It is even harder to become a member.  This organization operates in a veil of secrecy.

Deceased members: Arthur Ashe, Whitney Young, Benjamin Mays, Maynard Jackson and Carter G. Woodson all died without ever commenting on the "Boule."

Current members include: Vernon Jordan, John H. Johnson, Earl Graves, Bill Cosby, Jesse Jackson, Lynn Swann, Elgin Hayes, David Dinkins, Hank Aaron and L. Douglas Wilder.

HEROES:

     Bricktop

Ada Smith was born a saloon singer in Chicago.  She was nicknamed "Bricktop' because of her red coloring and freckles.  She gave Duke Ellington his first break and she took Josephine Baker under her wing and she worked with a young busboy named Langston Hughes.

Bricktop accepted a singing engagement in Paris.  She loved Paris; especially the night life, friends talked her into launching her own club.  The club "Bricktop" became the rage of Paris.  Patrons included: Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, Lena Horne, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Jelly Roll Morton, Orson Wells, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edward G. Robinson and Cole Porter.  Porter became Bricktop's best friend and confidant, Porter and his friends created a protective shield around Bricktop to protect her from racism.  Bricktop was also friends with Ernest Hemingway and T.S. Eliot.  Bricktop often gave "Charleston" dance lessons to European royalty at Porter's house.

When Martin Luther King arrived in Paris to accept his Nobel Peace Prize, as soon as he got off the plane, he said, I'm not leaving Paris until I meet Bricktop.   The character of "Dominique Deveraux" portrayed by Diahann Carroll on "Dynasty" was based on Bricktop.

Bricktop would open a chain of nightclubs throughout Europe and Mexico, quite a accomplishment for a African-American woman in the 1920's, the clubs were financed by a mystery investor, we will reveal the identity of the investor towards the end of this article.

Bricktop died of heart failure on January 31st, 1984 in New York City, she was 90 years old.

   Isaac Murphy

Isaac Murphy may be the most successful jockey in history.  Murphy received his jockey apprentice license when he turned 12.  He began his career as a exercise rider.  His skills were exceptional, he didn't require a whip to motivate horses. 

Murphy won his first victory in Louisville in 1875.  By 1882, Murphy was earning $10,000 per year and was considered the top jockey on the race horse circuit, black or white.  In 1884, Murphy won six races with four different horses. 

Murphy also had the distinction of being the first jockey to win three Kentucky Derby's, a record that stood until 1948.  Murphy died of pneumonia in 1896, he was 35.  The "Isaac Murphy Award"  is given to the rider with the highest winning percentage each year.

      Bessie Coleman

Bessie Coleman was born in Texas, she was one of thirteen children.  After reading about World War 1, she became interested in flying.  She went to Europe to learn to fly.  She received her license on June 15, 1921 making her the world's first licensed black aviator.

She returned to the U.S. and began teaching African-American women to fly.  She gained fame as a barnstorming air circus performer, she was nicknamed "Queen Bessie." 

On April 30th, 1926, while practicing for a show in Orlando Florida, Coleman was thrown from the plane and fell to her death, she was 34 years old.

Shortly after her death, Bessie Coleman Aero Groups were formed by William J. Powell.  The Aero Groups performed a air show on Labor Day 1931 making it the first all-black air show in America.

Paul Revere Williams

Paul Revere Williams is one of the most successful architect's in history.  He designed homes for: Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, Lon Chaney, Anthony Quinn, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Barbara Stanwyck.

Williams also designed the Saks Fifth Avenue building in Beverly Hills, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles International Airport, The L.A. County Courthouse and the MCA building.

Despite his success, he was a victim of racial discrimination.  He once said "I designed the most beautiful home for a client today, sometimes I dream of living in this home, I could afford such a home but this evening leaving my office, I returned to my small inexpensive home in an unrestricted undesirable section of Los Angeles because I am a Negro."

Paul Revere Williams died at the age of 86 in 1980.

UNSUNG HERO OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT:

    Doris Duke

Doris Duke was the richest woman ever.  When she died, her net worth was estimated at $6 billion dollars, her investments netted her $1 million per day.  Duke University is named after the Duke family who made their fortune in tobacco. 

Doris Duke was always comfortable around African-Americans.  As a teenager she often went to the black nightclubs in Harlem against her family's wishes.  She sang in black choirs and she played the piano for black churches.  When black churches were burned down in the South, Duke financed the reconstruction, she also gave generously to black organizations and charities.  She would hire black teenagers to work on her properties during the summer months. 

Duke is the mysterious investor who financed Bricktop's nightclub chain in the 1920's.  She often stated, America should be ashamed on how they treat African-Americans in this society. 

The love of her life was a man of color, Hawaiian swimmer and Olympic gold medalist Duke Kahanamoku.  Duke became pregnant by Kahanamoku, she lost the baby, they never married due to racial discrimination.  Doris Duke died on Oct. 28th, 1993.

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