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Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, a founding member of TLC, revealed that the group paid $1 million per letter to reclaim the rights to their name. The total of $3 million ensured Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas retained full ownership of the TLC brand following the death of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes in 2002. In a Facebook video posted by DJ Envy of “The Breakfast Club,” Watkins revealed that the band paid $1 million per letter to own the rights to their band’s name. “A million dollars per letter, honey,” she said in the video. “To buy back the name TLC.” She did not disclose from whom they purchased the rights, adding only, “You know from whom. We ain’t gonna say.” As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the monumental success of their 1994 album, “CrazySexyCool,” produced hits like “Creep” and “Waterfalls” and earned the group two Grammys. While it made TLC the first girl group at the time to achieve diamond certification, the women faced severe financial hardship shortly after. In 1995, TLC...
Chris Goode’s love for his grandmother lives on through his journey as an entrepreneur. The Kansas City, MO, native is the proud founder of the health and wellness brand Ruby Jean’s Juicery, which is making healthier food options more accessible to underserved communities. His personal call to action, and the name of the venture, was inspired by Ruby Jean, his grandmother, who stepped in to help his single mother raise four children. Ruby Jean didn’t speak much, but she showed her affection through cooking soul food, Goode explained in an interview with AFROTECH™. However, Ruby Jean developed various chronic illnesses, including type 2 diabetes, which eventually led to her being rushed to the hospital. She later passed away after her family made the decision to remove her from life support. Goode was 14 years old at the time, and since that day, he has pledged to keep her spirit alive. “The agony in myself and my mom and my siblings and my aunts, it’s something that I would never...
Bogan High School 2025 graduate Aaron Williams is still sorting through college acceptance letters. According to ABC7 Chicago, Williams has already been accepted into more than 83 colleges and universities, and this is only after opening half of the letters he has received. Additionally, he’s already earned at least $8 million in scholarships. This is more than any of his six siblings. Per the outlet, one of his older siblings has earned $1 million in scholarships. “And, they’re still coming in. Daily, he gets emails. They’re a little bit behind,” his mother, Ericka Smith, told the outlet. Williams also added, “To know that all the hours of me applying for scholarships, and having to log them on school links, and just putting in the effort, and having a community to support me and guide me through this process is relieving to know that it paid off in the long-run.” Williams may not be surprised by the influx of great news, as he had already predicted a path of excellence when he...
NBA player Jalen Williams is paying it forward to his parents. Williams was drafted into the league in 2022 by the Oklahoma City Thunder as a 12th overall pick, notes ESPN. He was signed to a four-year rookie contract valued at $20.3 million, data from Spotrac reveals . That milestone felt like a natural next step as Williams had long believed the league was within reach due to affirmations instilled in him by his parents, according to Andscape. “I would say my parents were big on if I wanted to get to the NBA, I could,” Williams recalled to the outlet. “From when I was young, I knew what I wanted to do, so I always had a good support system in regard to that. There was never a time that I didn’t think I could.” NBA Championship Fast forward to 2025, and Williams has already secured the league’s most coveted honor as the team won the 2025 NBA Championship during Game 7 on June 22, 2025, at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, NBC mentions . Williams was instrumental in the team’s stretch...
President Donald Trump is going all in on key crypto bills. His goal: to pass the first major cryptocurrency regulations in U.S. history and establish the country as the global leader in crypto. But political infighting and ethical concerns are slowing momentum. Several House Republicans have pushed back against the bills, casting doubt on what was expected to be a major legislative win, according to ABC News. GOP Infighting Halts ‘Crypto Week’ This week, House Republicans tried to move forward on several crypto-related bills, including the GENIUS Act, CLARITY Act, and Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act. The measures would define regulatory authority, set rules for stablecoins, and block a central bank digital currency. Trump backs all three and has made them a legislative priority, per ABC News. But a group of 13 hardline Republicans staged a last-minute revolt, joining some Democrats. Their protest froze House floor activity and forced leadership to cancel key votes. According to...
Odell Beckham Jr. has no regrets with going against the grain. Decision To Accept Bitcoin In 2021 As AFROTECH™ previously told you, Beckham made the decision in 2021 to accept bitcoin as the form of payment for his contract at the time with the Los Angeles Rams, in partnership with Cash App. In doing so, he followed in the footsteps of Russell Okung, who was the first player in the NFL to be paid in bitcoin. In fact, Okung reportedly agreed to receive half of his $13 million salary at the time ($6.5 million) in the form of bitcoin, which was later worth $20 million by 2024, according to Bleacher Report. As for Beckham’s investment, he reportedly received a $750,000 payout from the Rams, which was converted into bitcoin, a separate article from the Bleacher Report mentions. To commemorate the announcement, Beckham Jr. also gave money to his fans in the form of bitcoin. “It’s a NEW ERA and to kick that off I’m hyped to announce that I’m taking my new salary in Bitcoin thanks to Cash...
Goldman Sachs is turning to AI to level up its developer workforce — and its latest team member isn’t even human. The global investment bank is testing an AI-powered software engineer from startup Cognition that can handle everything from writing code to fixing bugs and building full applications, with minimal human support, CNBC reports. Chief Information Officer Marco Argenti said the bank sees this as the beginning of a new kind of collaboration between people and machines. “We’re going to start augmenting our workforce with… our new employee who’s going to start doing stuff on behalf of our developers,” Argenti told CNBC. Goldman Sachs is the first major bank to use the tool and believes this tech has the potential to significantly boost productivity across its 12,000-person developer team. And if it proves successful, the firm may roll out thousands of AI engineers across the organization. What Makes The Goldman Sachs AI Engineer Different This isn’t your average AI assistant...
Chris Paul’s plant-based venture is making its way into another major retailer. In 2019, the NBA player, who was in his 15th season at the time, made the decision to adopt a plant-based diet, GQ reports. While the initial switch was performance-driven, he made the change indefinite after noticing a reduction in routine inflammation and body aches, along with improved stats on the court. “It’s been a good lifestyle change for me,” he told the outlet. Paul, who according to Spotrac has reached $400.9 million in career earnings, has also made plant-based living a central part of his business strategy. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, he invested in Black-owned plant-based brand Misha’s, which is also backed by Jay-Z. In 2021, Paul also struck a deal with digital delivery service GoPuff to expand its “Better For You” product category in the interest of making plant-based products more accessible. A year later, this led to Good Eat’n being introduced with offerings such as chips,...
Be a part of the AI revolution. AI Edge Virtual Summit Whether you are a creative leaning into AI for content creation, a marketing lead leveraging it for fresh ideas, or a founder looking to make an industry more efficient, AI Edge is your next step forward. This free virtual summit, to be held on Aug. 8, will connect you with top tools to become more efficient as well as offer firsthand insights from leading AI adopters and industry experts including Alicia Lyttle ( CEO and co-founder at AI InnoVision), Vanessa Schneider (head of marketing at Descript), and more. Programming will include: How to Build Your Own Custom GPT with Alicia Lyttle How to Automate Your Daily Tasks with Zapier without Coding Experience Create Visuals at Scale Using Adobe Firefly How to Automate Content Creation with AI with Descript Scale Communication and Marketing with HeyGen Mastering AI-Powered Research with Perplexity View this post on Instagram A post shared by AFROTECH (@afro.tech) A survey of...
Jackie And Denis Asamoah are conquering the world of business hand in hand. Inception The married couple are the co-founders of FORVR Mood, a shared passion project that birthed a brand. Their company launched with distinctive candles and later expanded into a fragrance collection that includes I Am Her, You Remind Me, Hard To Get, and NDA, all intentional priced at $79. View this post on Instagram A post shared by FORVR MOOD (@forvrmood) For Jackie, it was a full-circle moment to enter an industry she believes has long been gatekept from Black founders and Black creators, she shared in an interview on the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast. She remembered the first beauty product she could afford was perfume — a purchase that not only helped her bond with her mother but also proved useful in managing the hyperhidrosis (a condition that causes excessive sweating unrelated to heat or exercise) she developed at age 10. “I tie it back to bonding with my mom and also attributing it to the...
Some people earn too little to ever stop thinking about money. Others earn so much that they rarely have to. Most of us live somewhere in between: the teacher wondering if they’ll ever own a home, the small business owner with good months and bad ones, the salaried professional with a six-figure title but a five-figure cushion, even the multimillionaire questioning why wealth still doesn’t feel like freedom. People across every income level who earn well but still wonder if they’re actually wealthy. That question ( Am I rich? ) might sound self-indulgent. But it’s increasingly common across racial lines, tax brackets, and career paths. And for many people, particularly those carrying financial responsibility for others, the answer is complicated. The Prosperity Paradox On paper, you might be earning more than you ever imagined. Maybe you’ve reached a steady middle-class salary, broken into six figures, or you’re still climbing but making progress. A few years in, a few promotions...
Tech investor Marc Andreessen, co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, warned that universities will “pay the price” for promoting diversity and allegedly discriminating against supporters of President Donald Trump , according to screenshots of chat messages reviewed by The Washington Post. During a May 3, 2025, WhatsApp chat with White House officials and tech leaders, Andreessen reportedly criticized DEI and immigration policies after being invited by moderator Sriram Krishnan, a White House senior policy adviser on AI, to counter a comment about their impact on economic growth . The outlet also noted that Krishnan had created the group chat at the time he was working at Andreessen’s firm. The group chat, formed in 2023 before Trump’s current term, connects investors and experts with diverse political views interested in open AI development. In addition to Andreessen and Krishnan, members include White House AI adviser Dean Ball, Meta’s chief AI scientist Yann...
Praxis Labs has been acquired. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, the company was co-founded by AFROTECH™ Future 50 honoree Elise Smith and launched as an “immersive practice-based platform that drives inclusive, engaged, and higher-performing teams” powered by AI. Praxis Labs’ product offerings are Pivotal Practice, which helps managers to improve their critical human skills, and Pivotal Experiences, 15-30-minute perspective-taking simulations intended to increase empathy and provide a practice ground for workplace scenarios, its website mentions. TechCrunch notes the company’s client pool includes eBay, Zoom, Amazon, Google, and Target. “For me, it’s how do we use technology to help us become even better humans, to help us be able to give feedback across differences, to navigate difficult conversations, to provide performance feedback and expectations with accountability and care in a way that actually serves us all better, that creates more value for everyone, doesn’t cause harm,”...
Don Lemon’s lawsuit against Elon Musk and his platform, X, is officially heading to trial. According to CNBC, a San Francisco judge ruled that the case accusing Musk and X of breach of contract and fraud can move forward. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Lemon filed the suit in 2024, claiming X pulled out of a $1.5 million content deal just hours after he recorded a tense, on-camera interview with Musk. That interview was meant to launch “The Don Lemon Show” exclusively on the platform. Lemon’s team had already started production, and both parties had publicly announced the show. The journalist had also reportedly “incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses” in preparation. But before the first episode could air, X canceled the deal, sparking allegations of retaliation and broken promises. Judge Backs Don Lemon Lawsuit In Court The courtroom developments mark a major step forward for Lemon’s legal claims. Judge Harold Kahn rejected Musk’s motion to dismiss the case or...
After being laid off from Google, DeMarcus Edwards decided to become the founder of an AI company. The Howard University alumni, with both a master’s and Ph.D. degree in computer science, has completed residencies at Netflix, Apple, Meta, and Google X in order to gain industry experience around adversarial machine learning, per The Dig at Howard University . This field is focused on manipulating a machine learning system through malicious inputs to attack or disrupt their function, according to Tech Target. DARE Labs It was ultimately Edwards’ role at Google, tasked with creating an AI-assisted exoskeleton alongside teammates, that would spark his transition to becoming a founder. He was laid off from the tech company and bootstrapped his own defense-tech startup, Atlanta-based DARE Labs, alongside his best friend Branford Rogers in April 2023 . Within this area of work, Edwards also has received guidance from Danda B. Rawat, Ph.D., his mentor and the associate dean for Research &...