Stephen Smith and William Whipper: The Lumber Firm That Owned 22 Railcars and Ran Them Twice
Stephen Smith and William Whipper built Smith, Whipper & Co. into a lumber and coal firm grossing $100,000 a year with 22 privately owned railcars — and used the same asset base to move people north. A business analysis of open-access infrastructure, nominee control, and dual-use logistics.
Federal Reserve Publishes Rate Decision And Bank Of England Announces Bank Rate Same Week As US August Retail Sales
FOMC publishes a rate decision Wednesday at 2pm ET, Bank of England announces Bank Rate Thursday at 12pm UK, and Census releases August Retail Sales Wednesday. The Black Executive: Weekly Market WatchLatest Articles
South Africa Treasury And Reserve Bank Publish Draft Cross-Border Crypto Exchange Control Regulations
National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank published draft cross-border crypto exchange control rules, with a September 30 public comment deadline. The Black Executive Journal — Daily Edition
Stephen Smith and William Whipper: The Lumber Firm That Owned 22 Railcars and Ran Them Twice
Stephen Smith and William Whipper built Smith, Whipper & Co. into a lumber and coal firm grossing $100,000 a year with 22 privately owned railcars — and used the same asset base to move people north. A business analysis of open-access infrastructure, nominee control, and dual-use logistics.
Federal Reserve Publishes Rate Decision And Bank Of England Announces Bank Rate Same Week As US August Retail Sales
FOMC publishes a rate decision Wednesday at 2pm ET, Bank of England announces Bank Rate Thursday at 12pm UK, and Census releases August Retail Sales Wednesday. The Black Executive: Weekly Market Watch
The Pulse
The Pulse is your weekday briefing on what's moving across Black American and African business. We cut through the noise to deliver the market moves, funding rounds, policy shifts, and leadership changes that matter to founders, operators, executives, and investors building across the diaspora.
South Africa Treasury And Reserve Bank Publish Draft Cross-Border Crypto Exchange Control Regulations
National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank published draft cross-border crypto exchange control rules, with a September 30 public comment deadline. The Black Executive Journal — Daily Edition
The Week Ahead
The Week Ahead is your Sunday briefing on the economic, business, and cultural developments worth tracking in the coming week. Before Monday hits, you'll know what earnings are dropping, what policy decisions are pending, what events matter, and what market signals to watch across Black American and African business.
Federal Reserve Publishes Rate Decision And Bank Of England Announces Bank Rate Same Week As US August Retail Sales
FOMC publishes a rate decision Wednesday at 2pm ET, Bank of England announces Bank Rate Thursday at 12pm UK, and Census releases August Retail Sales Wednesday. The Black Executive: Weekly Market Watch
BLS Publishes July CPI Wednesday As UK ONS Releases Q2 GDP And Stats SA Reports Quarterly Labor Force Survey
BLS releases July CPI on August 12, UK ONS publishes Q2 GDP on August 13, and Statistics South Africa reports its Q2 Labour Force Survey on August 11. The Black Executive: Weekly Market WatchToday's Builders
Today's Builders profiles the founders, operators, investors, and executives shaping Black and African business right now. These are the leaders closing rounds, launching platforms, entering new markets, and building institutions across the diaspora economy in real time.
He Ran a $23 Billion Business Unit. Then He Tried to Run the NAACP.
Bruce S. Gordon spent 35 years climbing from management trainee to president of Verizon's retail division — overseeing $23 billion in annual revenue and 35,000 employees. When he walked into the NAACP in 2005, he was the most powerful corporate executive ever to hold the role. He lasted 19 months.
He Built the Bible of Black Business From a $250,000 Bank Loan and a Blank Page
Earl G. Graves Sr. did not inherit a media company. He created the category. In August 1970, with a loan from Chase Manhattan Bank, a small staff, and a mission that had no commercial precedent, he put the first issue of Black Enterprise on newsstands.
She Built the App That Puts Every Streaming Service in One Place. Then She Drove It Into a Porsche.
Rose Hulse founded ScreenHits TV in London in 2012 when the streaming wars hadn't yet been named. By 2023 she had signed the first global deal to put a TV streaming platform inside a car — and done it in 56 countries at once.
She Started on the Ramp Loading Luggage. She Ended Up Running the Company.
Stephanie Chung spent more than thirty years in aviation — parking planes at Boston Logan as a teenager, selling corporate accounts for US Airways at 25, generating $835 million in revenue at Flexjet, becoming the first African American president of a private aviation company and more.Featured Stories
Featured Stories are stand-alone pieces that deserve more than a single scroll — reported features, longform essays, and spotlight stories that cut across our usual formats.
Family Office Formation in the Diaspora Corridor. What It Takes To Stand Up Capital Vehicles That Move Cleanly Between the US, West Africa, and the Caribbean
Diaspora families are already moving billions across the US, West Africa, and the Caribbean; the advantage will belong to those who build real family office architecture that preserves tax efficiency, governance, and deal access in every jurisdiction.
PIDG and the Blended Finance Playbook. De‑Risking Infrastructure for Commercial Lenders
PIDG’s first‑loss capital and guarantee structures show how a relatively small pool of catalytic money can unlock billions in private investment for African infrastructure; the same architecture is available to Black US finance professionals working through CDFI and community funds in cities at home
Yesterday's Architects
Yesterday's Architects is a biographical series honoring the Black and African entrepreneurs, executives, and innovators who laid the foundation before us. These are the builders history often overlooks — the dealmakers, the institution founders, the strategists who created industries and wealth across the diaspora when the odds were designed against them.
Stephen Smith and William Whipper: The Lumber Firm That Owned 22 Railcars and Ran Them Twice
Stephen Smith and William Whipper built Smith, Whipper & Co. into a lumber and coal firm grossing $100,000 a year with 22 privately owned railcars — and used the same asset base to move people north. A business analysis of open-access infrastructure, nominee control, and dual-use logistics.
Henry Boyd: The Manufacturer Who Sold to the South and Funded the Escape North
Henry Boyd built one of antebellum America's largest Black-owned manufacturing firms in Cincinnati, running an integrated workforce and shipping patented bedsteads down the Mississippi. The operator lessons in his rise — and his collapse — are still live.
Featured Series
Featured Series is where we slow down and go deep. Each series is a multi-part investigation into a single theme shaping Black and African business: ownership, access to capital, global markets, policy, leadership, and long-term strategy.
Press Release Hub
The Black Executive Journal Press Release Hub features official announcements from businesses, executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations shaping industries around the world.
DSP Connect Launches DSP Connect Academy With Five Online Training and Certification Programs
New online education platform provides self-paced courses and professional certifications designed to help business owners, agencies, sales professionals, and marketers develop practical expertise in programmatic advertising.The Black Executive Journal Announces Global Expansion of Editorial Operations with Launch of Executive Contributor Network
The Black Executive Journal announces the launch of its Executive Contributor Network, expanding its global editorial operation by recruiting experienced journalists and industry experts from around the world.Latest Articles
South Africa Treasury And Reserve Bank Publish Draft Cross-Border Crypto Exchange Control Regulations
National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank published draft cross-border crypto exchange control rules, with a September 30 public comment deadline. The Black Executive Journal — Daily Edition
Stephen Smith and William Whipper: The Lumber Firm That Owned 22 Railcars and Ran Them Twice
Stephen Smith and William Whipper built Smith, Whipper & Co. into a lumber and coal firm grossing $100,000 a year with 22 privately owned railcars — and used the same asset base to move people north. A business analysis of open-access infrastructure, nominee control, and dual-use logistics.
Federal Reserve Publishes Rate Decision And Bank Of England Announces Bank Rate Same Week As US August Retail Sales
FOMC publishes a rate decision Wednesday at 2pm ET, Bank of England announces Bank Rate Thursday at 12pm UK, and Census releases August Retail Sales Wednesday. The Black Executive: Weekly Market Watch
