You just realized your business needed to hire someone yesterday. How can you find amazing candidates fast easy? Just use Indeed stop struggling to get your job posts seen on other job sites. With Indeed sponsored jobs, your post jumps to the top of the page for your relevant candidates, so you can reach the people you want faster. According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed have forty five percent more applications than non sponsored jobs. Don't
wait any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed, and listeners of this show will get a seventy five dollars sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at indeed dot com slash pod Katz thirteen. Just go to indeed dot com slash pod katz thirteen right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need.
Welcome back, Welcome back, Earn your Liegia's Podcast Episode nine. Before we start anything, we just want to thank you guys again for rocco with us throughout this journey. We want to remind you guys to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Earn Your Lesia make sure you turn on our notifications. Also, our website is up Earn a lisia dot com. We had some difficulties with it early on, but that's up and running. So we have all the info for the podcast listings. We have our YouTube on there. We also
have our merch shop up the Merchants Dope. We have a bunch of dope shirts and it's gonna be even more stuff that we're gonna roll out, but make sure you check the merch out and so our Patreon is up as well. That is also on the website and that's a way for just extra support and if you want extended dialogue, you know, just kind of follow the journey a little bit more. It's all laid out. So
that's on there as well. Feel free to support. So, yes, we are jumping right into it with the marijuana business.
So back home smoking legal, all right.
So that that was a line that Drake said in Meek Mills's song, And it's important that people take note of what we're about to say because we're not saying we're four again.
We're just gonna give.
Them some fast. It's not a stance. It's not a stance. Look me personally, I don't smoke. I never smoked. I don't have anything against anybody that smokes. It's personal preference. But I'm not saying we're not saying that it should be legal, that it shouldn't be legal. We're just laying out the facts, giving you dialogue and just something to think about.
And we're gonna look at it from the business perspective because it is a multi billion dollar business and I'm not sure if people really understand the potential growth that the marijuana business has. But we're going to break it down and talk about some people who have invested in the business and are seeing some benefits already. So well, let's just start from a legality standpoint.
Well, let's start even before we go there, I want I want to give a quick story that we put on our Instagram page of Al Harrington.
Shout out to him.
Shout out to Al Harrington. Anybody not familiar with hol Harrington. How Harrington was an NBA player for I think like ten years something like that.
He had an extended career.
Yeah, he was in the lead for a while. Yeah, and he towards the end of his career he started getting a lot of injuries. Right, So, how he was able to cope with the injuries that he started to smoke.
He started, so he had a couple of knee surgeries, and one of the knee surgeries actually the effect of it, he had a staff infection, and he was prescribed all types of medicines and they really weren't working for him. And he figured out, hey, I'm in a state and twenty eleven twenty twelve season, I think he gets hurt and he's he's in a state where marijuana is now legal for medical use, Colorado. So he's playing for the Nuggets Deviver Nuggets at the time, and he's in Colorado.
In twenty twelve, they passed medical marijuana to be used for digital marijuana, and he decides, I'm gonna try this now. He never smoked too, He had your stance. He had never smoked, and he stands by that throughout high school.
And even the professionally.
You never smoked, but decided, you know, after reading up on it, I'm going to give it a try. And he sees the benefits of it right away.
Yeah. So, and then also what he does is that, you know, the NBA has strict guidelines as far as drugs. Weed is still considered the drug right in most states.
And still illegal federally.
Federally, yes, So he invests five million dollars into a marijuana company because he sees the business side of it once he starts to see the medical benefits of it, but he doesn't want to put his name on it. Yeah, so he does it through his cousin's name right right into a company named Viola Viola Astracts. So now the company is in four different states, it employs seventy employees, and he's looking to have a future billion dollar valuation once and if it goes legal on a national level.
So now he's like a spokesperson because he's not in the league anymore, so he doesn't have to worry about backlash. And it's actually ironic because I just saw on All Star weekend where the NBA invited him to come in and speak to the players stuff like that. So they're actually embracing him as a marijuana ambassador. Yeah, he had a big co sign.
David Stern, who was the former NBA commissioner, said, you know what, I didn't believe, didn't believe in that stance that players should be able to use it. But now listening to Al Harrington after he met with him a few times, he's like, you know what, Al, If it's going to keep players on the court and not sit out games and rest, I'm all for it. Now he's not the commission anymore, Adam silver is, but that's.
A big co sign.
That's a you know, he's a former commission of a major sports league in America, So that's a huge co sign.
No, it is. And the thing about it also, so now we have to talk about some legalities of it. Right. So there's a lot of different complexities in the marijuana industry, marijuana business, right. So one of the main issues is that some states it's legal, but it's still not legal on a federal level.
Right, So thirty three states allow medical marijuana. We live in New York is one of those states. But then there are ten states who have legalized recreational which means you're allowed to carry it.
I believe up to one ounce.
If it's something you carry and if it's like a concentrate, which means it's in an edible product, I think it's maybe one eighth of an ounce. So the ten states, and you said that Al Harrington has seventy employees. Obviously, his employees are from for of those states, California, Oregon, Washington, Michigan, Vermont, Maine, Nevada, Alaska, New Hampshire. I think maybe not yet, not yet. New
Mexico is like going to be the next one. So there's ten and obviously Washington, DC we say states, but the District of Columbia also has medical and recreational.
Yeah. So it's interesting because before, like a couple of years ago, one of the biggest businesses in Colorado when Colorado first legalized marijuana, one of the biggest businesses was security. So they had all these Navy seals and ex marines and things of that nature that were like carrying m sixteens and machine guns, and they would arm security for
the dispensaries. Because the dispensaries was a cash business, they couldn't accept credit cards and they couldn't put their money in banks, so they literally had warehouses full of cash, right, and obviously you have warehouses full of cash, you're a target. That's dangerous. So being at the security business in Colorado were like skyrocketed overnight because they couldn't So now what's happening is that at that point in time, no bank in the country wanted to even run the risk of
handling finances for a marijuana company because it's illegal. On a federal level, you can get arrested.
Yeah, So there were some stories where you had shops that would over dispensaries that would open up right on a state level it was legal, but if the federal government came in, they could shut you down pretty much.
Yeah.
So it's like it's a rest Yeah.
So but now there's actually four hundred I think four hundred and eleven banks and credit unions that are currently doing business with marijuana companies and they're looking to experience. But there's actually a bill in Congress now from two Democratic House members that wants to give safe haven to any bank or any credit union to do business with a marijuana company.
Yeah. So this is like a little fun fact.
So Colorado has more dispensaries than they have Starbucks and McDonald's combined. And when we think of like franchises, like obviously we said on a few episodes ago that McDonald's was the largest franchise in the world, it is they have more marijuana dispensaries than those two franchises combined.
So this is like a billion dollar business that's happening.
No, I mean it's like prohibition, right, Like a lot of people don't really fully understand that alcohol was illegal at one point.
Yeah, eighty years ago is when they started making marijuana illegal. And that goes into a deeper discussion, right when we look and there's a documentary it's called The House I Live In and it talks about population control. Right, So if people are doing things that are taken away from jobs, from the people that dominate population, how do you stop it? You start criminalizing the things they do. So if marijuana was something that was being used and grown, let's criminalize that.
If it was in the West coast, right, and it was opium that was being used, let's criminalize that. So we've seen that there's a deeper history.
When I mean, even with this whole So you know what POW stands for prison of war, right, So it's like, okay, so now it's looking like the tide is turning on this and marijuana is gonna be made legal. It's just a matter of just a matter of time. So there's the war on drugs, right, quote unquote, So how many people are serving jail time for marijuana.
Ye, like that, shout out to Biggs, right, So that was that was one of those dope quotes that I think flew over people's heads. Like Big Bird, who was one of the co founders of Rockefeller was locked up for five years for marijuana charges, right, so and he said that. I think Jay said that on the he was like, shout out to Busi's back in the church when I heard you got locked that that hurt took a good dude, locked them over with some dirt, Like, yeah,
it's legal in Colorado. So it's like, it's crazy, right, this dude did time, was away from his family, and how many other people are just like that doing more severe sentences for marijuana. And now in maybe five to ten years, this is going to be something that's legal legally nationally everywhere.
Yeah, And I think one of the things about it, I've heard that if you have a criminal record in drugs, you're not allowed to get a license to open up a dispensary.
Yes, it's crazy, man.
So and that's so the blueprint has been laid because when we think of the United States of America, right, we think North America. There's obviously to other countries. Canada has made marijuana legally throughout the entire nation, right, so their country is completely federally fun that you can sell and use marijuana in Canada, which is why we started with the back home smoking legal because obviously Drake is
for Toronto. So when he says that line, that's real, like the country of Canada is marijuana is legal.
Yeah, that's like we want to match, yall, somebody was smoking weed. That's before this whole thing started to turn and after about the NA something when he was like, imagine smoking weed in the street without cops harassing.
That day is upon us.
That's a fact.
That day is upon us.
Man.
So we said it's a billion dollar business. Here's some numbers behind it. In twenty seventeen, the marijuana legalization of it has gross nine point seven billion in North America. Right, they expected to have a eight percent increase over the next four years, which would be mean by twenty twenty one, it should be a twenty five billion dollar business.
Twenty five billion dollars just.
By legalizing something that a lot of people use in all aspects of life. Doctors, lawyers, teachers, pickup profession, A lot of people use the drug and there's benefits of it. So when we talked about Al Harrington, one of the things he said is that it's better than the prescription drugs that they do because number one, it's natural. And for him it was a pain relief and not just smoking marijuana. But I think he was using marijuana cream. I think he had a cream that had marijuana and
he was using that for his ailments. And he had another person who said it was Steve Kerr, Steve Kurdit, coach of Golden State Warriors Man. He was like, I had back surgery in my career and rather than taking pills, I was using marijuana.
Well, medicine is a drug, right, so prescription I mean we see that now, right, opioid addiction. So if you get prescribed volume or any other type of drug, that probably has worse effects than marijuana.
Yeah, but as we see, you know, it was, it was criminalized.
And recently this week we had David Irvin you see their Cowboys player. No, he's quitting, so he got find no, suspend it indefinitely.
From the NFL.
The NFL's rules on obviously the drug policies are very strict, but he said he's quitting the NFL. He's gonna he's gonna do smoke weed. And it was like a huge thing and everybody was like, wait what, this doesn't even make any sense. And his thing was like yo. His his stance is like, I'm using it for medical reasons. Why am I being suspended for it? So like now these twenty five years old.
The NFL are they don't only lead that test for marijuana.
No, all leagues do, but the leniency is different. So the NFL, and that was one of the things that people are arguing, like why is this still a policy right if people are using it to heal from injury and.
It's not performance enhancing drugs.
Right, So the argument is like we and I heard Stephen A say this, he doesn't want to see his ass the people that.
He's paying to come see inebriated.
And I'm like, okay, that's cool, but do you stop them from drinking alcohol the night before the game?
Right?
Do you stop them from slover cigarettes an hour before the game? So I mean it's a long list of things that we can go into.
Yeah, I personally think that once you see laws being passed or proposed to make it federally legal for banks to harbor money. So once the money comes into the banks, everything follows the money, right, So once the money comes into the banks and that's legal, then it's just a domino effect from there. So a lot of people are
interested in marijuana. I always tell people all the time, do your research and understand what you're investing in because there are a lot of companies and all companies aren't the same. But that's interesting from a political standpoint because like I said, the money always precedes the law. So once the bank, if that bill actually does pass, it's just a matter of time because there's too much money.
It's billion trillion dollars out there, and there's too much money for it not to be capitalized on, for banks not to take advantage of it, for institutions not to take advantage of it, but everybody not take advantage of it. So whether you're a pro or for it, probably will happen. Yeah, it is what it is.
And Snoop Dogg probably the lead kind of sore.
He had a venture capital from that raised forty five million dollars in three years, right, So people are investing in it at an all time rate. Wes Khalif is another guy who's made a career off the use of marijuana.
Same thing. And Mike Tyson, we just know about that.
Mike Tyson is opening a forty acre ranch in California, California, So all right, well marijuana interesting. It's only gonna, you know, get more headlines. I think as time goes and we'll see, we'll see what happens.
Yeah, And just the last thing is that yesterday it's legal in those states, but you have to be twenty one.
So how do we stop kids from using it?
So twenty one is the age that you have to be in order to use recreational or medical marijuana.
Yes, smoke responsibly people. All right, now we're gonna go into real estate. Right, We're gonna real estate is vast, so we're gonna talk about we're gonna chop real estate up into different segments with different shows. But today we're going to talk about appraisals right home appraisals in We're going to attack it from a different standpoint. So I actually wrote a post about this on my Instagram page
a while back, if anybody follows me. So, there was a recent study by the Bookings Institute in Gallop which shows that homes and majority black neighborhoods are undervalued during their paygel process by forty eight thousand dollars per home, which amounts to one hundred and fifty six billion dollars in primulative losses nationwide. So what happens is that they're saying that black homes are valued at twenty three percent
lower than the white counterparts. So obviously how they do that is that they base it like the same home, right, so it has to be like three bedroom, two bath home and a black neighborhood three badroom. Yeah, exactly comparable. Who we call in the real estate industry comparables, right, So they're not going to compare a one bedroom apartment to a mansion. They compare the same exact home, same exact space, backyard, all of.
That stuff within the same zip code.
Right. So on average, the black home is value that forty eight thousand and less than the white home. So what happens is that now it affects people in a lot of different ways. Right. So now when you have less value when you sell your home, right, you're getting less money, right, You're also it lowers your net worth, right, it lowers your equity that you can borrow from because the value of the home is less. So it's a
lot of negative effects for that. Right. So some people will say, okay, well, the reason that the black homes and then black neighborhoods are lower than white neighborhoods is because black neighborhoods unfortunately, a lot of times you have higher crime rates. It sometimes maybe a longer commute, bad schools, So all of that stuff plays a factor in the home value. Right, And that's true, But the studies showed that that only accounts for actually half of the devaluation.
So what happened to the other seventy eight billion? Right, So that only accounted for one seventy eight billion, But the other seventy eight billion is not accounting for in all those other factors. So this this is what the study show, not me. So the Booking Institute, in the Gallop, they came to the conclusion that the other seventy eight billion dollars in devaluation was solely due to one thing. You know what that one thing is a racism. Right.
They just said that they just valued black homes lower. Right, When a praiser comes, he just looks at a black home as being worse less than a white home. It's just that's what it is. That's what that's what it accounted for. Right, So this is a troubling statistic, right, for a lot of different reasons. But the main reason is that, you know, one of the things that you know, you always taught in America is that you do good you buy a home. You know, that's like the number
one way to preserve wealth for your family. Do the right things, and you can sell your home. But now, ay, it's already discriminatory practices and actually buying a home, right, that's been proven. And now even if you do buy the home, it's devalued just because you live in it. Yeah. Right. So it was interesting when I wrote that story because a lot of people were going back and forth like, well,
I don't believe that. It's like, you know, a lot of people don't believe that racism is actually real.
It's a real thing.
But the thing about it is that it doesn't even affect people just in black neighborhood. They can affect a white a black family living in a white neighborhood. Right. So, as I said, so, a lot of times people were saying, like this is just made up I don't believe it. Yeah, so now being that we have a personal story to confirm it, Yeah, you're going to go into your story. Yeah.
You know what when you wrote the article and I had no idea you were writing an article, I thought you were writing it about me. I honestly was like, Yo, this guy just wrote my story. And I told you. I'm like, oh, you serious, and you're like nah, this is like factual needs, this is this is the evidence. And I'm like, oh wow, this is really happening. So uh two years ago, almost about two years ago, I was in the process of buying a home and that comes let's go back. I wasn't going to be in
the process if it wasn't for you. And that was part of the early leisure conversation. My family was about to move and you were like, hey, why don't you go in and buy a home? And I was like, I had not getten any thought. I'm like, you know what, maybe maybe you was shot out, maybe I should do this. So you sparked that in my mind, I'm like, all right, Well, I presented the proposal to my family and they were like, let's do this.
And one of the things we had to do was get the house of praise.
Now, my family bought the home in twenty ten, and the house was valued at five hundred and seventy five thousand. That's what it was valued at. We bought it for five hundred and twenty five thousand. That was a purchase price in twenty ten. Long story short, part of my family wanted to move to another area. So I came in and I went in on a deal with my father and.
We got the house.
And the process of praisal was an alarming one because when he the appraisal I won't say his name, we're actually still in there.
We wrote a Consumer Reports review about it.
The appraisal man came in and said that the house had devalued. Now we have added things to the home, you know, the typical things obviously stay in still furniture, I mean stay in still, appliances, would floors, all all the things that you would add to, you know, increase value in your home. And in the eight year, eight year period, the house went from being purchased at five hundred and twenty five thousand to now being five hundred and ten thousand.
So all right, so you brought a house in New York in the suburbs of New York Westchester, which is anybody's not familiar. It's affluent, pretty affluent neighborhood.
White plans in New York.
Okay, so you buy a house for five hundred and how much?
Five hundred and twenty.
Yeah, seven years where there is no market correction. Real estate has only gone up right in New York and across America as a whole, but definitely.
And especially in this neighborhood.
Okay, you made improvements, You made improvements to the home, and he said that the home was devalued by fifteen thousand.
Uh, fifteen thousand.
Yeah.
So like when you look at that, it's like, oh wait, that's kind of crazy. But then you look at the comparables because that's part of the appraisal process too.
So I looked at the comparables. Earners, what's up.
You ever walk into a small business and everything just works, like, the checkout is fast, the receipts are digital, tipping is a breeze, and you're out the door before the line even builds. Odds are they're using Square. We love supporting businesses that run on Square because it just feels seamless. Whether it's a local coffee shop, a vendor at a pop up market, or even one of our merch partners.
Square makes it easy for them to take payments, manage inventory, and run their business with confidence, all from one simple system. If you're a business owner or even just thinking about launching something soon, Square is hands down one of the best tools out there to help you start, run and grow. It's not just about payments, it's about giving you time back so you can focus on what matters most ready.
To see how Square can transform your business, visit Square dot com backslash go backslash eyl to learn more that Square dot com backslash, go backslash eyl. Don't wait, don't hesitate. Let Square handle the back end so you can keep pushing your vision forward. This episode is brought to you by P and C Bank. A lot of people think podcasts about work are boring, and sure, they definitely can be, but understanding a professionals routine shows us how they achieve
their success little by little, day after day. It's like banking with P and C Bank. It might seem boring to save, plan and make calculated decisions with your bank, but keeping your money boring is what helps you live or more happily fulfilled life. P and C Bank Brilliantly Boring Boring since eighteen sixty five. Brilliantly Boring since eighteen sixty five is a service mark of the P and C Financial Service Group, Inc. P and C Bank National Association Member FDIC.
An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child in Massachusetts. An MS thirteen gang member from Al Salvador accused of murdering a Texas man of Venezuelan charged with filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just some of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President Donald J. Trump's leadership. I'm Christy Noman, the United States
Secretary of Homeland Security. Under President Trump, attempted illegal border crossings are at the lowest levels ever recorded, and over one hundred thousand illegal aliens have been arrested. If you are here illegally, your next you will be fined nearly one thousand dollars a day, imprisoned, and deported. You will never return. But if you register using our CBP home app and leave now, you could be allowed to return legally.
Do what's right. Leave now under President Trump, America's laws border and families will be protected.
Sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security six hundred, six hundred and fifty six hundred eighteen. We had an offer on the table, like my brother was going to sell the house before I stepped in, and the offer was for six hundred, six hundred thousand, and you got to praise that fifty five hundred and ten thousand.
And what do your neighbors look like?
My neighbors are from a.
Different ethnic background, ethnic back.
We have Hispanic neighbors, we have white neighbors. We have a few black neighbors down the street.
The majority of people in your neighborhood, what are they are? White? Majority of them? Okay, yeah, So the comparables in the neighborhood is six hundred thousand.
Six hundred plus at least. So the deal was time sensitive.
So not only did I was like blown away by the number that came back, I knew that we had to react fast because there was a lot of dominoes that were gonna fall if we didn't get this done. So he came in and gave us a five hundred and ten thousand appraisal.
But on top of it.
I had to pay him eight hundred dollars to him to do that, so like, not only was it in justice in a disservice, but I had to pay him out of my pocket to say thank you. He came in, he was here for maybe ten minutes and left and that was the last time I saw him until I had to, you know, get in contact with him, like how did this happen? And you know, his explanation was pretty much, you don't have the size of a backyard as the comparables. So I was like, no, this isn't
this is impossible. I literal drove around the neighborhood to the comparables. I'm like, no, this is no way, no way. And being that the process of getting the house was time sensitive, I just had to say, you know what, I'm just gonna have to take this one and then we'll deal with this at a later time. My mortgage broker at the time was like, you know, I don't believe this. This is crazy, but at a certain extent, you're at the bank's mercy, right, Like they're the one
that's approven you for the loan. They send their appraisal, the person that do the appraisal, So it's like, what do you do?
So at that point in time, he took ninety thousand off the table, oh wealth right from your family pretty much? Yeah, just his opinion. Yeah.
And that's the thing.
It's like a lot of people don't get to this level to even see this type of discrimination, right because how many people are in the position to even get a home, you know what I mean. And it's like I can tell this story, but it's like, who else can relate to this? Because, like I said, when you wrote it, I was like, wait, you're writing my story and you're like no, this is happening everywhere. And I'm like, oh, oh, now I have to take action. So I have taken some actions, and it's still.
You know what's crazy. Somebody said on my Instagram that she told the story. I don't know if for sure or not, but I'm gonna give her the benefit down say it's true. So she said that she had a home of praise three times and each time, let's say it was three hundred thousands roughly, I forget the number. Well, let's say three hundred thousand. It was like solid three hundred thousand, three times in a row. Yeah, she had
her white neighbor come for the fourth appraisal. She took down all the pictures and the white neighbor answered the door. Long story short, the praiser thought that it was a white neighbor's home. You know how much it was a praise for four hundred I think like four to ten one hundred and ten thousand dollars more, just on an opinion because he saw a white person. Yeah, it happens.
Look, I'm like, we're literally I lived it and I'm still living in it, and it's like wow, And I try to get that message out like yo, this is happening. But like I said, like who can relate to it? Like a lot of my peers are, you know, are renting and they're not in the process.
Of owning a home yet and they will be.
But it's like, oh, this is how how is this possible? So like what would be the answer to eliminate that? Like you know what I mean, Like we have to get our own independent appraiser. Yeah, but that independent appraiser doesn't necessarily work for the bengk who's giving you the loan, So it's like what do you do?
Yeah, it was an interesting this discussion on my Instagram page because then some appraisers came in. It was actually hoping to get somebody in the praiser to come in as a guest, but we wasn't able to. But uh yeah, yeah, it's a I don't know, it's an unfortunate situation that it's just stuff like that people don't even aren't really even thinking about, right, like you hit about like the hardcore racism stuff, but little stuff like that that's real wealth.
That's so your ninety so your situation was ninety thousand dollars, right, so now you can see how a hundred when you hear about one hundred and fifty six billion, like that's a large number, but how many people are like you, ninety thousand here, one hundred thousand here, thirty thousands? Ye up, yeah, that's all right. And like you said, like that's part of that generational wealth. And that's not even a black neighborhood.
Right right, It just was that, Hey, they saw the family that was here, and this is what we're saying it is, and take it or leave it. And if you leave it, then you're not going to get this own because we're not approving you for.
This one m yep, well yeah is ricked all right, boys and girls. So now is my favorite part of the show. Storytime. Here's a little story that must be So listen up, gangsters and honeys with your head done the best story tell us stuff now, right, UNA say, if pray out it's gray down, it's great up. All right.
So this, this story actually starts as a lesson plan. And one of the things we do in the summer is teach financial literacy. And I was listening to Reasonable Doubt that President's tool was on and I heard the line all black Scott is sports and entertainment until we even and it just stuck with me, and I was like, damn is this like Jay right?
Like is he right when he says that? Like what does that even mean?
And I started thinking about success and what images we think of when we think of success, and over and over I kept saying, Wow, yeah, entertainment, damn, yep, sports.
Okay.
So when we sat down with our kids, I came up with this idea that you know what, give them eight pictures of celebrities, and lo and behold, they could name all eight, all eight. They were eight for eight and the celebrities I believe with doctor dre Jay z Beyonce, Floyd Mayweather.
Was on there, Puff was on there. It was like, all right, well they know all of those.
And then I gave him another sheet with eight pictures and I asked him to name them, and they got one out of the eight and the one person was Oprah Winfree and I told them that the interesting thing is that you recognized that every celebrity, but you only knew one of the wealthiest people of color in the world.
And their minds were blown. And I was like, well, this is.
Why, right, because all we've been we see is sports and entertainment. So we went to the number one person, the wealthiest black person or person of color in the entire world, well black person not even personal African descent, and we came to the name Aliko then goatee, Aliko dan Goti. He's actually from Nigeria and it's networth this year, well in twenty eighteen was ten point seven billion.
Yeah, so Aliko Dane Gote. We wanted to cover him for a few different reasons, but shout out to Africa. We have a lot of listeners in Africa and the UK and all over and you know, Obviously we live in America, so most of our stories are based off of Americans. But we're we're bigger than's just America. Right, you know, the world, as I always say, the world is flat, So we want to show up to every part of the world and to give inspiration to every
part of the world as well. Right. So, as you said, the richest black person in the world, African descent, whatever you want to call it, is from Nigeria. Right, He's worth ten billion dollars. So we're going to tell his story, so because I'm pretty sure that most people aren't familiar with him.
Yeah, I mean, every time I've brought him up in conversation, people will say who is that? And it's it's ironic, Like we know who Floyd made Weather is, and we know who Jay Z and I mean, they've had huge amount of sys but those three people, they're not worth doesn't even add up to.
His No, it's not even closed. So all right, So Aliko, he he comes from Nigeria, right, and he uh, he starts in twenty one in the concrete business. So he comes from a wealthy family already nowhere near where he is now, but he comes from a wealthy family. So that's no, that's another thing too. We have to keep in mind because even with the whole thing with Coylie Jenner as far as what self made, that's that was
big on the page. And we have to keep in mind that there are black wealthy people, right.
Like his grandfather was wealthy, the wealthiest person in West Africage.
Yeah, so and there's nothing wrong with we have to get out of that mind like, there's nothing to be embarrassed about if your if your family has money. But that's what we should strive to do to actually leave a legacy for our kids. And it's like we almost like are embarrassed if if we have any leg up. I mean like it's it's kind of backwards way of thinking. But so, yeah, he comes from a wealthy family, but
nowhere near where he is now. So at twenty one, he starts a concrete business, right and from there it's a five thousand dollars loone that he got from his uncle to start the business. From there, he parlayed that into pretty much everything in Nigeria, agriculture, food, telecommunications.
Banking, petroleum banking, petroleum, sugar flowers.
Sugar flower everything. He's guys, guy's hands and everything. Everything in the country is pretty much he's involved with in one way or the other. He's heavy in politics everything, right, So what he's doing now is that he is taking a major risk. But that's what business is about, right. He's taking a major risk and building a twelve billion dollar petroleum refinery, yes, right in Nigeria.
So just a quick couple things about Nigeria. Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producer, so that's just the first thing. Now, they have the control of i think the tenth largest oil reserves in the country.
Oh and I'm sorry in the.
World, in the world, but they don't take their resource, not their resources, but they don't have refineries that are efficient enough to get it throughout the entire time.
Yeah. So the thing about Nigeria is that they have the tenth largest oil reserve, like you said, in the world, but they only have four state run refineries and those are old. So what happens is that they have to import most of their petroleum, which makes no sense, right because you have so much petroleum in your backyard literally, but you have to import it because you don't have the infrastructure actually produce it. Yourself. So that's his thing.
His thing is like why do we why don't we have to bring in all of this stuff from the Middle East and all these other different countries when we have it right here. So he's building a twelve billion dollar refinery and what that will do is make it well, a is going to be the largest petroleum refinery.
In the world.
Yeah, in the world.
I literally he went out and this is built on wasteland. So he I mean again, his business helps with this process, right because he has the concrete, and he has the trucks and he has all these things that help build it. So he's building it right now. I believe it's off the south coast of Nigeria. But yeah, like let's build this refinery because there's no point of us important anymore.
Right, So that's going to take if all goes well. So right now, his company made four billion dollars in revenue. Shit, if all goes well, that's going to take it from his company from four billion to thirty billion. Yeah.
So the key part about that is that sixty percent of Nigeria, right is not they're not connected to the power grid sixty percent. And when the people who are they have like four hours of power at a time. So there's like long history of blackouts in the country. So he has a chance to provide electricity now to an entire country.
Yeah, well, yes, he has a chance to change the course of Nigeria forever, forever and also change the court of Africa as well, the entire continent, right exactly, So what he's doing is more than just money, right, he has actual chance to really leave a legacy forever when it comes to Africa. And then of course money plays a part as well. As I said, it takes his company from four billion to thirty billions, So now he's a billionaire. Now. I think he was like number on hundred on the.
List, yeah he I think his highest rank on the list was like twenty five. He was up to like twenty twenty five billion.
Yeah, a couple of things, but this does now, this puts him in like the top twenty. Now now he's in there with Bloomberg and guys like that. Right, So that changed the trajectory of wealth as well. But as I said, more importantly, like you said, sixty percent of the country doesn't have electricity. They're the tenth largest oil producing country, but they have to import all their oil,
so it makes himself reliant. They can keep all their resources at home now, and it sets a trend for West Africa and the whole Sub Saharan Africa as a whole, right, because we all know that Africa is the richest continent as far as minerals and what's in the earth, but unfortunately it's the poorest continent economically, right, So hopefully this will be a trend that countries can follow in businessmen in the countries can follow where now the wealth is
actually kept in Africa and they're producing for themselves and they're keeping it for themselves, right, So there's two sides to every story, right. So a lot of people aren't big fans of his because they said that, you know, he has a lot of money offshore and some shaky business practices, pays on the politicians.
So his wealth, right, and when we look at our country and we think of the wealthiest people in the world, and we know that one percent of the population has more money than ninety nine percent, so his statistic is even larger because yes, I think fifty percent of the country does live in poverty. And you have now a man who's in the top one hundred wealthiest people in the world. So the disparacy is even greatest people are looking at that, Like.
But that's not just his I mean, look at Carlos Slim right in Mexico.
Another person.
I look at his billion of billionaires in India or even America, right, so that's all over the world. Yeah, But like I said this, you know, there's there's some some rumors that you know, he's done some things, which I mean most business people have on a certain level. Right, But then he also has a charity where he's donated one point two billion dollars of his own wealth.
Yeah, I believe him and Bill Gates or doing.
He's doing somethuff with Bill Gates. Well, but then he also built two hundred homes for poor people.
Yeah, so he and he said his favorite so he for the first twenty years of business, so he started his company, I believe in nineteen seventy seven, first twenty years of business, refused to travel, did not travel at all.
Yeah, that's no vacation. So that's because that goes back to the college everything, right, where I say, Okay, you start with money. Obviously, if you start with money, you have a leg up. It's obvious, right, but you still have to work the money to make it more money. So the guy didn't take a vacation for twenty years. Twenty years now he took vacation now, But for the first twenty years in business, he didn't take a vacation.
It's ratio now is for every two weeks he works, he takes a vacation. I gotta get we have to get to that r Yeah. I mean, that's an amazing.
It's like how many people take vacations just because it shouldn't be. It can't afford it.
Right, You you have no money and you're still taking vacations just for the hell of it.
You're going to Miami just just cause it's funny.
You said Miami. Because when he said the two favorite places.
Of traveling Atlanta in Miami, Atlanta at Miami, that's pretty random. I'ma be honest with you. If I'm one of the richest people in the world, I love Miami. I love Atlanta too, those would not be my two top travel desers.
Well, where you're coming from, though you're coming from New York.
It doesn't no matter where I'm coming from.
Somebody who's in Nigeria.
That may look at that as like that's a tourist destination, and we do it like pretty regularly.
Atlanta shot to Miami too. It's just a little random for me, that's all. But yeah, those are his two favorite. He actually owns a lot of property in Atlanta.
Yeah, he I think he had a residency out there, but now I think he's staying at some like luxurious like resort there.
Now, yeah, I mean theig gout, he's bailing out of control. But the thing about it also is that so this flip sides to every coin, right, So some people say it's a bad guy, some people say it's a good guy. I learned that life is complicated, right, So when I was in Colombia, I went to Columbia Attle while ago. And obviously when you think of Columbia, who do you think of It's a legend. So everybody knows story. I don't have to tell a story. Half of the country
hates him, despises him, and half of the country loves him. Right, So depending on who you talk to, you're gonna get a different story. So if you talk to some of the people that he might be responsible for killing, and you know, ruining lives and all his things. Then they would tell you that he's the devil, he's the worst person in the world. But then I went to a community.
I forget what it's called, but it's Pablo Eskebar community where he built I think, like three homes for poor people, right, And he built the whole community. He built the hospital, he built homes, restaurants, grocery stores, He literally built the community for poor people and everybody lived rent free, everybody had a home. They got murals of them on the wall. To this day, they still got murals of them, like
he's he's a saint. Right. So life is complicated, right, And depending on who you ask opinion, you're going to get a clearly different answer.
So there was some negative press where people had lived near the land and he came in, he cleared off so that's it didn't provide homes or anything.
So they said he cleared off the land to make wrong. But then he built two hundred homes for poor people. So it's like and.
His thing is like he doesn't even want to be remembered as the wealthiest person of African descent. He'd rather be known as a philanthropist and that's honorable, Like he just wants to be the person that has given back, and he has a chance to like what we said, if you think about it, like his country relies on imports, he has a chance to reverse their entire trajectory and be a country that is pretty much making their revenue from exporting their resources.
So that's I mean, now that's a good story. And then also it's just you know, we like to highlight business people and we want to give people inspiration and hope and just just different figures. Right, Like we all know who Warren Buffett is. We know who Bill Gates is, so why should we not know who he is?
I doubt and I mean I work in schools. This is his name is never being brought up.
But there's a bunch of people. We got Robert Smith, who's the richest Black American. He's a millionaire and a lot of people don't know he.
They have, well Rob Johnson before him, and he wasn't brought up.
But even Rob Johnson he's still in sports entertainment on a certain level, but Robert Smith is in private equity. So we're going to try to highlight different people from different walks of life. But business in particular, because I think it's important for people to see these people and to just know about them. You don't have to be a fan of them or not, but at least you should be aware of it.
The power of presence and the power of perception. It's like, at least I've seen somebody who can do that's doing this. It's powerful. If we've never seen that, like, then we may expire to be an athlete or somebody entertainment. It's like, oh wait, there's somebody doing something else in this avenue. Oh I can do this too, right, So the power of just seeing yourself and somebody successful, you can't measure.
It now, you can't. And once again, shout out to Africa, South Africa, to Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Somalia, all that, Egypt. We're going to go to Africa very soon, I have. Unfortunately, I have not been to Africa yet. I've been a lot of different places, but I have not been to Africa. So that's on my to do list. I'm looking forward to it. I'm very excited and yeah, we're gonna get out there for sure.
Absolutely.
All right, guys, Well again, thank you for rocking with us and do not forget to subscribe to our YouTube, check our website out, check our merch out, check Patreon out, and yeah once again, just just also send you send requests too, because what we want to start doing is featuring maybe like a small businesses too that have success stories. Cause we talk about your big companies, we're gonna talk
about small businesses as well. So dm us if you know, if you have a good small business story, or if you know somebody has a small business story, if you could just d dm us a quick paragraph, nothing too crazy, because we got to read it and we'll try to feature that as well. And then also we got requests for books book club, so I'm just going and just
each episode I'll say a book that I'm reading. So right now, I'm currently reading a book called The Big Short and it's about the subprime mortgage crisis in two thousand and eight. Very interesting book if you're into that. They have a movie about it actually as well. Steve Carrell's in it is excellent movie and it just talks about the financial system and how broken the financial system is, how corrupt the financials amazing. It's dope, trust me, it's dope.
So Yeah, that's my that's my book. Tip of the week. All right, all right, peace.
An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child in Massachusetts. An MS thirteen gang member from Al Salvador accused of murdering a Texas. Man of Venezuelan charged with filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just some of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President Donald J. Trump's leadership. I'm Christine Noman. The United States
are scretary of homeland security. Under President Trump, Attempted illegal border crossings are at the lowest levels ever recorded, and over one hundred thousand illegal aliens have been arrested. If you are here illegally, your next you will be fine nearly one thousand dollars a day, imprisoned and deported, you will never return. But if you register using our CBP home app and leave now, you could be allowed to
return legally. Do what's right, leave now. Under President Trump, America's laws, border and families will be protected.
Sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security,