Management, 13e

Creating and Leading Entrepreneurial Ventures Module

Russell Simmons is an entrepreneur.1 He cofounded Def Jam Records because the emerging group of New York hip-hop artists needed a record company, and the big record companies refused to take a chance on unknown artists. Def Jam was just one piece of Simmons’s corporation, Rush Communications, which also included a management company, a clothing company called Phat Farm, a movie production house, television shows, a magazine, and an advertising agency. In 1999, Simmons sold his stake in Def Jam to Universal Music Group, and in 2004, he sold Phat Farm. Today, Simmons is involved in UniRush, a Cincinnati company that sells a prepaid Visa debit card; Russell Simmons ArgyleCulture, a clothing ...