Black Enterprise Founder Earl Graves Sr. Dies At 85

Photo by Vallery Jean/FilmMagic

Earl G. Graves Sr., the founder and publisher of Black Enterprise, died Monday after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. He was 85.

Graves famously founded the country’s first black-owned magazine that focused on black entrepreneurs in 1970. The Morgan State alumni lived a prominent and successful life, and was “named by Fortune as one of the 50 most powerful and influential African Americans in corporate America and won a U.S. Army Commendation Award as a former member of the Green Berets.”

In his book, How To Succeed In Business, Without Being White Graves felt the need more than ever to create what would go on to be the authority on Black business models. “The time was ripe for a magazine devoted to economic development in the African American community,” he wrote. “The publication was committed to the task of educating, inspiring and uplifting its readers. My goal was to show them how to thrive professionally, economically and as proactive, empowered citizens.”