JIM CARROLLon music
50 Cent is on the money again in his business dealings
Former crack dealer, actor, label boss, would-be fashion mogul, energy-drink entrepreneur, video-game producer, the most entertaining man on Twitter and, once in a while, rapper: is there anything 50 Cent can't do? Now he's even bested the stock exchange and made a lot of bucks in a few short hours. It was certainly an easier pay day for Fiddy than acting in Jim Sheridan's Get Rich or Die Tryin'flick a few years ago.
What the G-Unit hard-chaw did was simple. A few months ago he acquired shares in H H Imports, a company that was marketing his Sleek By 50 Cent headphones.
Then, he went on Twitter and started to talk up the shares to his four million followers. “You can double your money right now,” he proclaimed.
Nearly 10 million shares were traded in the next two days, and the value of the company, including the rapper’s share, increased tenfold. Not a bad day’s work for firing up ÜberTwitter on his BlackBerry.
It’s not the first time Fiddy has shown considerable financial acumen. One of his best deals to date was acquiring a tenth of the Glaceau vitamin water company, which was subsequently bought by Coca-Cola for more than $4 billion.
However, providing financial advice is a new string to his bow and may well see him getting a rap on the knuckles from the financial authorities. A spokesman for the US Securities and Exchange Commission refused to confirm or deny if they would be investigating Fiddy’s share salesmanship. The original tweets were subsequently deleted.
Anyone who has listened to Fiddy’s recent albums will sincerely hope that he sticks to the bulls and bears. Hip-hop’s loss will be the stock exchange’s gain.
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