An Amazing Business Success Story

Business Insight Series is proud to announce the final Key Note Speaker of the Series 

Earvin “Magic” Johnson 

Earvin Johnson, Jr. is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Magic Johnson Enterprises which was formed in 1987. Through strategic investments, partnerships and endorsements, Magic Johnson Enterprises (MJE) provides products and services that particularly focus on ethnically diverse urban communities.

MJE is comprised of a portfolio of companies that include Urban Coffee Opportunities (making MJE the only joint venture partner of Starbucks with over a hundred stores developed across the country), Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund which is the country’s largest private real estate fund focused on the revitalization of underserved communities, Yucaipa Johnson Corporate Growth Fund which is the country’s premiere private equity fund focused on strategic investments in companies located in and/or serving America’s underserved markets, The TCW CapitalAssist Fund – a joint venture with TCW Leveraged Finance Group – which focuses on providing debt financing to middle market companies whose access to capital has been constrained by the frozen credit markets, thirteen 24 Hour Fitness Magic Sport centers, a T.G.I. Fridays restaurant, and a long-standing partnership with AMC Magic Johnson Theatres.

MJE has launched several additional initiatives: SodexoMagic, LLC and respective partnerships with Aetna and Best Buy. SodexoMagic, LLC provides an extensive portfolio of food and facilities management services as well as offers signature dining facilities.  MJE’s alliance with Aetna will empower businesses and ethnically diverse communities to make informed choices about health care options by improving health care literacy and demonstrating the benefits of wellness. Similarly, MJE has entered into a multi-year relationship with retail giant Best Buy to enhance urban retail growth strategies and implement diversity outreach with multicultural consumers. Mr. Johnson’s venture MAGIC Workforce Solutions (MWS) provides “best in class” staffing services and connects employers of today with the workforce of tomorrow.

The aforementioned businesses have been at the forefront of urban development, raising the understanding of the importance of the multicultural consumer, and are directly responsible for tremendous growth across the country. Through MJE, Mr. Johnson has bolstered the economy by establishing brand name businesses in underserved communities, training and hiring local residents, employing local contractors, and opening the door for other businesses to find success in diverse communities. In his New York Times Bestseller “32 Way to be a Champion in Business,” Mr. Johnson offers detailed advice, real world expertise and the enthusiasm of a natural born entrepreneur who has pioneered unprecedented economic development in long neglected urban communities.

Mr. Johnson is universally known for his 13 year career in the NBA. His honors include: five national championships with the Los Angeles Lakers, 3 MVP awards, 12 NBA All-Star games, a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain and induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Mr. Johnson is also Vice President and part owner of the Los Angeles Lakers