The Top 10 Black-Owned Businesses of All Time
Is it possible to run a successful, profitable business without adopting the worst parts of capitalism? Well, Black people actually did it.
If Martin Luther King Jr. was a communist, then how did he become a billionaire?
Growing up, I assumed MLK was the richest Black man who ever lived. According to my calculations, he earned most of his fortune from his lucrative chain of Black-owned funeral franchises (which was obviously why his face was on 73% of church fans). Plus, every Black household had a portrait of King with two of the wealthiest nepo babies in history—John F. Kennedy Jr. and Jesus (whose father was rich in houses and land). The velvet painting endorsement deal had to be at least eight figures.
It turns out, I was wrong about MLK’s embalming empire and his church endorsement deal. Although King believed that “capitalism has outlived its usefulness,” he regularly advocated for the support of “negro-owned banks.” In his last public address, King explained that supporting Black-owned businesses was the first step on the path to economic independence.
But what are the greatest Black-owned businesses of all time?
While we could argue forever about whether Motown is more important than the Jordan brand, we wanted to rank the kinds of Black-owned businesses. To create our list, we used the following criteria:
Historical impact: Even if the industry or business no longer exists, how important was it at the time it existed?
Cultural impact: Did the industry fill a need that was missing in Black communities?
Economic impact: Rather than hoarding profit, how did Black people benefit economically and financially?
Legacy: How are the companies and the individual members remembered today?
While we included unlicensed businesses and underground operations, for obvious reasons, we excluded criminal enterprises and lone hustlers like the guy who sells bootleg DVDs at barbershop.
The resulting list is not about money; it shows something more.
Not only have Black-owned businesses been a staple of Black communities since Black communities existed, but history is also replete with examples of Black people who achieved financial and economic success without sacrificing their values or exploiting their communities. In fact, Black-owned businesses actually disprove the myth that adopting the predatory, ruthless ways of capitalism is the only way to achieve what white people call “The American Dream.”
Here are a few people who did it right.
10. Candy Ladies
Unlike bodega owners, corner-store proprietors and traveling Jolly Rancher salesmen, candy ladies don’t operate out of storefronts. Also known as “residential retailers,” the Institute for Domestic Executives, Candy Ladies and Residential Entrepreneurs (I DECLARE) defines a candy lady as anyone who sells more than five packs of Now & Laters in the same home where they live. And, contrary to popular belief, loose-leaf Oreos, Chico Sticks and Mike & Ike cookies account for less than 22% of candy lady sales. The real profit margin comes from mass-producing frozen Kool-Aid cups, loosie cigarettes and homemade cakes and pies.
While this industry has traditionally been dominated by usher board members, Black men have made a significant impact in the candy lady industry. In fact, Middleton Tobacco recently settled a class-action lawsuit with the International Brotherhood of Candymen (no relation to the Sammy Davis Jr. song) over the theft of their idea to sell individual Black & Milds.
Candy ladies were doing it first.
Greatest Candy Lady of All Time: The Saxton Contraband Camp Store
During the Civil War, white Union soldiers discovered their superiors were paying a Black woman who lived in the contraband camp located in Beaufort, S.C. Instead of raising a fuss, she renounced the Army’s under-the-table stipend. Instead, she went “to her little cabin, and made about fifty pies, a great quantity of gingerbread, and two casks of root beer.” For the remainder of the Civil War, the sole proprietor made money by selling her products to her fellow officers. And because she was self-employed, the Combahee Ferry Raid was technically sponsored by one of the most famous candy ladies of all time:
