Visible Figures - Vol 23
SVP on wealth, Lauren Maillian joins Slutty, Tara Roberts dives for NatGeo, and Hooda Brown breaks a Guinness World Record
Hey, hey…it’s swampy hot here in DC *sniffs pits* Whew, I don’t know if this organic deodorant is gonna get me through summer! OK, let’s dive 🤿right in.
$124 Trillion in wealth will transfer hands by 2048
That’s trillion with a ‘T’, ya’ll.
According to Bank of America’s 2024 Study of Wealthy Americans, the Great Wealth Transfer from the Silent Generation and Baby Boomers to Millennials and GenZ will create a seismic shift in investment behavior and broader society:
Less investment in stocks, more investment in alternative assets
$76T will pass to heirs, $18T will pass to charities
Real estate, ESG, and sustainable investments will continue to grow
While the heirs of some Americans will directly benefit from The Great Wealth Transfer, most Americans will not. For example, if trends continue most Black Americans will have zero ($0) net worth by 2053 (IPS, 2017).
If inherited assets are hoarded or sheltered, the wealth gap in general will continue to widen.
Here’s My Take:
America’s brand of capitalism relies on the perception that ‘regular,’ hard-working people can one day be rich. We have made great strides to distance ourselves from the plutocracy of ancient empires, but the average American today is far more likely to become homeless than a millionaire.
Remember my TED talk?
I hope the so called HENRYs that receive an inheritance soon are smart enough to understand the interconnectedness of our well-beings and thus the importance of redistributing their wealth beyond their socioeconomic networks.
The money must move!
Monopoly is fun ‘til the board flips.
What I’m Reading: the 990s (public tax-filings) of media non-profits NPR, TED, and National Geographic who raked in $302M, $101M, and $232M in 2023, respectively. NatGeo’s revenue diversity was the most surprising: $119M of their total revenue (51%) came from investment income alone yielding a salary of $981,301 for their Chief Investment Officer. Kristi, lemme hold twenty dollars ‘til next month! 🤣
What I’m Watching: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on CNN with Anderson Cooper discusses how AI will lead to mass unemployment. This is a bell I will continue to 🔔ring with love, insight, and empathy. I don’t like to stoke fear and anxiety (there’s enough of that), but if your livelihood or that of your children relies upon work that can be automated it’s time to start thinking multi-disciplinarily. If you have the risk appetite, get creative, work on something cutting edge, or be more hospitable because jobs with rote tasks will continue going to bots (or overseas).
Love Always Wins,
Memorable Material💡
This is a short clip from a lecture I gave in 2018 (7 years ago!!) for Jobs For The Future about the impact of AI on the future of work and education.
Things You Should Know 👀
Lauren Maillian has officially stepped in to the president role at Slutty Vegan (Black Enterprise). I’ve known Lauren for a decade. We first met on stage at a Black Enterprise pitch competition (I won 😏). Lauren, much like Slutty Vegan founder, Pinky Cole, is a marketing maven. I am eager to see and support the company’s new leadership team, swag, and voagies (vegan 🌯hoagies).
Tara Roberts is a 🤿 diver and explorer in residence for National Geographic. I slipped into her DMs after watching this IG video. She touches my soul. Tara is surfacing human stories from the voyage millions survived en route to the Americas. I had the privilege of speaking with her one on one last week 💓 and her trajectory is fascinating. See you on The Vineyard, Tara!
Hooda Brown is also a diver and recently earned a Guinness Book World Record as the first African American woman to scuba dive in every ocean on Earth!! 🌍 Hooda is living her best life, traversing the planet in style (Instagram). She and I belong to the same back country skiing crew. I am going to dive deeper in an interview with Hooda on the harrowing process the Guinness establishment took her through. Stay tuned.
A Number to Remember 👇🏾
According to Wikipedia, of the 3,028 billionaires in the world, three (3) are Black women: Oprah Winfrey ($3B), Rhianna ($1.4B), and Sheila Johnson ($1B). Beyonce is obviously next in line. Given the persistent lack of access to capital, media and entertainment may be the easiest path to Black woman billionaire-hood.
For Members Only 💜
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