Julius Erving III, 35
Erving Carter Entertainment
Atlanta
After selling his Philadelphia-based entertainment management company for a reported $12 million in 2004, Julius Erving III took his share of the sale and launched Julius Erving Group (JEG), another entertainment management company.
“We were definitely hesitant at first, because the offer came to us after only 18 months in business,†Erving said when Black Enterprise first spoke to him. “More than the money, we wanted to be in a position to be successful.â€
Indeed, the young deal maker was successfully expanding his ventures, opening an Atlanta-based boxing gym with R&B singer Mario (who he also manages), and partnering with three friends to develop two sneaker collections (Jhung Yuro and Caesar Lunix). In 2008, the combined revenue of the shoe lines and gyms was $3.5 million.