Over the years, BLACK ENTERPRISE has developed a reputation for identifying business superstars in industries ranging from finance and technology to media and entertainment. We have placed a spotlight on many of them before they have achieved full-blown marquee status. Once again, we unveil the best and the brightest, our Hot List, a roster of extraordinary professionals and entrepreneurs under the age of 40 who have transformed American business using innovative products and practices.
This is the second time we have compiled our list—the inaugural register debuted in 2003—and our team of editors and researchers spent several months looking for peak performers whose contributions have been so powerful that they would be considered impressive at any age. This year’s list runs the gamut from BE 100S CEOs and financiers to innovative scientists and hip-hopreneurs.
How did we spot these supernovas? In an exhaustive search, our editorial team contacted business leaders, top-ranked corporate professionals, industry insiders, and national organizations such as the National Society of Black Engineers, the National Association of Investment Companies, The Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association, the National Association of Securities Professionals, and the Executive Leadership Council. As a result, we found people who have influenced global markets and produced billions of dollars in revenues with their talent and business prowess.
Over the following 16 pages, we reveal these young, powerful African Americans. And while they are making ground-breaking contributions today, their impact will undoubtedly be felt tomorrow.
SHAWN D.BALDWIN, CEO, CAPITAL MANAGEMENT GROUP SECURITIES
Why he’s hot: With more than 10 years of experience in commercial banking, investment banking, and research and securities brokerage, Shawn Baldwin has been on a steady rise to be one of Wall Street’s masters of the universe. His brokerage and asset management firm’s track record in initial public offerings has elevated his status: 59 transactions totaling more than $40 billion in value. In the last two years alone, his firm participated in several IPOs, including GE spin-off Genworth Financial and this year’s celebrated Google IPO. The Genworth deal added about $2 million to the firm’s coffers while Google netted between $1.2 million and $1.4 million to date. The Antioch University graduate said he outpaced other BE 100S firms associated with the Google IPO. He’s keeping his company small—he has only nine employees in his Chicago office—and diverse. “Seventy-five percent of the people in my shop are African American, 85% are minorities, and 45% are women,” he says. AGE: 39
D. STEVE BOLAND President & Managing Director LANDSAFE INC., COUNTRYWIDE FINANCIAL CORP.
Why he’s hot: D. Steve Boland is the youngest member to appear on BE’s list of the 75 Most Powerful Blacks in Corporate America. As president of LandSafe, he oversees the provider of real estate information and closing services, which generated $223 million and employs 1,300 workers nationwide. He presides over a holding company made up of four subsidiaries associated with originating a mortgage, including a credit reporting agency, an appraisal management company, a flood determination company, and a title company. Today, Boland seeks to use