“I look out in my yard and see cars worth over $400,000… It wasn’t because of my success in music it was because of my success in business” – 50 Cent

Curtis Jackson was discovered in 2003 by fellow rapper “Eminem” who helped him to get a recording contract with producer “Dr Dre”. Once he had established his brand as “50 Cent” he wasted no time in partnering with businesses in several industries to help boost their sales.

Fifty makes his money by lending his brand to new businesses. He teamed up with Marc Ecko to form the clothing brand “G-Unit”, he worked with Sony to create a game that features his voice and likeness.

By leveraging his brand he has made far more money than many other more successful recording artists. Forbes Magazine says that Curtis Jackson, AKA 50 Cent, made over $40 Million last year. He also reportedly made over $410 Million from the sale of his stake in “Vitamin Water” when Coke purchased the business for $4.1Billion.

50 Cent has turned his star profile into an entrepreneurial empire that crosses over into many products and industries. By focusing on the power of his brand he is well on the way to becoming the first “Hip-Hop Billionaire”.

How are you building your brand, leveraging on your brand and protecting your brand. Whether you like his music or not, we can all learn a lot from 50 Cent. 

One of the greatest entrepreneurs in history, Steve Jobs is one of only a handful of people to ever create more than one businesses worth over a billion dollars. After creating the first personal computers and building a billion dollar company while still in his 20′s, Jobs was fired from Apple at age 30.

Steve Jobs went on to acquire Pixar from George Lucas which released Toy Story, a blockbuster success at the box office. After growing and  merging his second Billion Dollar Company, he became the single largest shareholder of Disney. He then returned to the stagnating Apple Corporation where the innovative iTunes and iPod combination resurrected the failing technology giant to make it one of the strongest brands on the planet.

This inspiring entrepreneur has transformed the way the world relates to computers, movies and music!

This video shares some of the critical moments that have shaped Steve Job’s life and indeed billions of people worldwide.