Industry Takeovers

Investing opportunistically to simply generate financial returns is not enough to achieve Black economic independence specifically, or Black power in general.  We need to at least be able to provide our basic needs to achieve any level of independence.  This requires us to have controlling interests in businesses throughout the entire supply chain of key industries, specifically:

  • Food
  • Energy (fuel and electricity)
  • Water
  • Defense (weapons systems (personal and military), ammunition, security technology (home and commercial), private security, etc.)
  • Shelter (general contractors, construction materials, furniture, housing-as-a-service, etc.)
  • Honorable mention: Education and entertainment

At Black Star Capital Network, we recognize that as individuals, Black people do not have enough wealth or power to achieve significant scale in any of these industries.  We don't have a Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk that can unilaterally disrupt entire markets.  In order to dominate an industry, we need cooperation and coordination.  That's why we're building this decentralized network of Black investment clubs.  

The best place to start is where we already spend a lot of money.  Here are some markets we can begin to look at and develop investment strategies around:

Now we can narrow down these categories based on the priority industries mentioned above (food, energy, water, defense, shelter, education/entertainment).  In addition to supporting and scaling existing black-owned businesses in these markets, we can also buy into non-black-owned businesses to get controlling interests and use them as platform investments to generate cashflow that can then be reinvested in horizontal and vertical integration.

Let's look at the personal soap and bath needs category as an example, which accounts for $573M in Black spending.  First, we would invest at the retail level in online retailers like Black Soap Club and physical grocery and convenience stores in cities with large Black populations.  Then we would stock their shelves in the bath and body section with products from Black-owned/controlled companies.  Those companies will then have a stable source of demand and be able to increase production capacity and hire more (Black) people, generating jobs in their local community.  They will also need to purchase more supplies to make their products like bottles, bulk oils, lye, etc., which can be purchased from Black-owned suppliers all the way down to the farms that grow the coconuts, shea trees, and olives needed to create the oils that go into making soap.

In short, we can use that $573M a year in spending to invest in the entire supply chain.  Even redirecting 20% of this spending would results in $100M a year going to Black-owned businesses, generating jobs and income for Black labor and investors. 

Clearly, this is a job for more than one person or company, which is why we need thousands of Black investment clubs to make it happen.  We can't wait for a few wealthy Black individuals or celebrities to finally get serious about investing in Black economic independence.  We are the saviors we've been waiting for.