21 Years Since Barry Gordy Sold the Label

I was trying to find an article about Michael Jackson and instead, ran across an interesting report about the retention of black ownership and loss of black ownership in large black-owned companies. It listed some landmark purchases in recent years:

BET black entertainment tv	2000	sold to: viacom
Essence / Ebony magazine	2005	Time-Warner
Phat Farm / Baby Phat	2004	Kellwood (Liz Claiborne, Calvin Klein women's sportsear)
Motown Records	1988	MCA / Universal Music
Soft Sheen Haircare	2000	L'Oreal
Ultra Sheen cosmetics	1998	Wella AG

The authors interviewed the owners of The Charlotte Bobcats and also Black Enterprise magazine who are trying to groom a line of succesors to ensure that the companies they founded will remain in the family in some sense.

If you are searching for a black-owned business you might try the search window at The 100s, a list maintained by Black Enterprise Magazine, which unlike Essence, is black owned still.