BET

"TCI had a new worry: we’d be held hostage to ever-increasing fees from networks that attracted the biggest audiences. This changed the economic model in my mind, and in an instant I saw our big distribution company differently. We would have to become owners of content. Quality programming was critical for the industry, and I understood most content providers were price constrained, which is why we stepped up for Ted Turner and why we invested in BET, Discovery, and the Family Channel."

"After a thirty-minute meeting, I promised to give him half a million dollars for his idea. TCI agreed to give Bob $180,000 for a 20 percent stake in Black Entertainment Television (BET) and loan the remaining $320,000."

"BET launched in 1980 and, within a decade, became the first Black-controlled company on the New York Stock Exchange. When Bob sold it to Viacom in 2001 for $3 billion, he became a billionaire—and in turn made many Black shareholders millionaires along the way. In 2003, he broke another barrier, becoming the first Black owner of a major U.S. sports team with the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats. I didn’t just back Bob with capital—I opened doors. He built a brand, lifted others with him, and earned every bit of the value he created."