How much is Russell Simmons’ net worth?
Russell Simmons is an American record businessman and executive with an estimated net worth in the region of $340million. Simmons is most well-known for his work in the world of music. He co-founded the legendary music label Def Jam Records and served as CEO for Rush Communications, Inc.
While the career of this entrepreneur has undoubtedly been profitable, his personal life has also been shattered by controversy. Sexual misconduct allegations that are serious and even sexual assault have afflicted his public image in recent times. This is why he was forced to resign from the positions he held within his numerous firms.
In addition to his music, Russell Simmons has generated substantial income through several original clothing brands. Simmons is also a prolific writer and has contributed to many well-known magazines. Simmons has strong opinions on issues such as the protection of animals as well as politics.
Early Life
Russell Simmons was born in the Queens Borough in New York on October 4, 1957. He was taken to his parents in Maryland through his father, a principal of a school, and his mother, a park administrator. Simmons has said that throughout his childhood, it was commonplace for him to use drugs within his community. He was involved in the criminal life that was associated with the trade in drugs from an early age and began to take the drugs himself. Though his father attempted to motivate Russell to seek genuine, honest work, the teenager preferred participating in the gang culture. The gang was active until one of his gangmates was killed.
Russell Simmons decided he should be more serious about his studies and enroll in The City College of New York in Harlem. While doing sociology studies, Russell connected with several hip-hop pioneers such as Kurt Walker and Eddie Cheeba. When he heard the latter entertain, Russell knew that he was determined to make hip-hop more popular in his life.
Early Career
Russell Simmons connected with Kurt Walker to record a track known as “Christmas Rappin.” With intelligent marketing decisions, Russell Simmons managed to get a record deal with Blow, the record label. Blow. After the single was sold for millions of units, Simmons quit college to pursue a career in the field of music. Simmons and his twin brother Joseph were active in the burgeoning hip-hop culture. Two of his friends created a group along with Russell Simmons and helped them produce diverse tracks. He later helped members of the band, who would later be known as Run-DMC, to negotiate a recording contract. A year later, Russell Simmons met a producer named Rick Rubin, who had started Def Jam Records. Russell Simmons was brought on in the role of an equal partnership, and the producer duo worked together to help the sixteen-year-old LL Cool J record the label’s first album. The album eventually resulted in an agreement for distribution with Columbia and helped to establish Def Jam Records on the map.
Breakthrough
While LL Cool J helped Def Jam make its first steps toward success, subsequent signings proved more lucrative. The Beastie Boys became a worldwide sensation when they released the album Licensed to Ill on Def Jam. After numerous other huge successes, Rick Rubin left the label in 1988. After six years, Rusell Simmons bought half the company from Polygram at $33 million. Two years later, Rick Rubin sold his company shares for $ 120 million to Universal Music Group. The year 1999 saw Simmons was able to sell the rest of Def Jam’s assets to Seagram in exchange for $130 million. Def Jam is continuing to be a significant influencer in hip-hop as a genre.
Expanding his Media Influence
Before selling Def Jam Records, Simmons was expanding his influence in the media. He established a production firm named Simmons Lathan’s Media Group and assisted in creating shows such as The Def Comedy Jam. He also founded Rush Communications, Inc. The conglomerate includes ten companies and three non-profit organizations. With Rush Communications, Simmons co-produced the Eddie Murphy film The Nutty Professor.
Clothing Lines
Russell Simmons started three clothing collections: Phat Farm, ArgyleCulture, and Tantris. Phat Farm became immensely popular due to the growing hip-hop scene and was later sold by Kenwood the following year for $140 million. ArgyleCulture targeted millennial males, while Tantris concentrated on yoga clothing.
Further Business Ventures
The year was 2013. Russell Simmons founded Unirush LLC, which offered pre-paid debit cards to people who earn low incomes. In 2017, the business was sold to Green Dot Corporation for $147 million. Rush Communications became involved in numerous business ventures, such as energy drinks companies, websites, and book publications. Russell employed the latter to create a variety of self-help guides, like Do You! Twelve Laws for Success and Do You! Harness the Potential within You to Achieve Your Goals and Prosperity.
Social activism
Simmons is a proponent of Ahimsa and veganism, citing the rights of animals as well as the health and environmental benefits. He stated that he became vegan after watching Diet for a New America in the late 1990s. He is a steadfast supporter of Farm Sanctuary, an organization that works to stop the cruelty of farm animals. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals presented him with the PETA Humanitarian Award in 2001. PETA Humanitarian Award and the 2011 PETA Person of the Year Award.
As of 2009, Simmons was the organizer of thousands of hip hop stars and protesters in the front at City Hall demanding a change of the harsh sentences imposed by the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
Simmons was appointed chair of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding in 2002. He was appointed chairman of the board of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding. Then, in May 2009, Simmons received the title of Goodwill Ambassador to the UN Slavery Memorial at the United Nations to honor the victims of slavery and slavery and the trading of enslaved people across oceans through UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Similarly, Simmons is a supporter of the Somaly Mam Foundation and was honored at their gala dinner in 2011. Simmons is affixed to this year’s Muslim Jewish Conference 2011.
Along with Rabbi Marc Schneier, He was an officially appointed Patron for the event, which was held on July 11, 2011, in Kyiv, Ukraine. He participated in Occupy Wall Street. Occupy Wall Street protests, attending the protesters in Zuccotti Park often and over several consecutive days.
Simmons has supported the cause of homosexual rights and is a proponent of marriage equality. In 2011, the retailer company Lowe’s pulled funding from the All-American Muslim program; Simmons promised to compensate the Learning Channel for any loss in revenue.
As of 2012, Simmons has backed Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s re-election campaign and was seen with Kucinich at various public speaking events. Then, in November of 2013, Simmons announced support for New York’s mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio to show his commitment to animal rights.
In 2017 Simmons was ranked by the UK-based company Richtopia as number 23 among the 200 most influential social entrepreneurs and philanthropists worldwide.
Personal Life
The couple, Marriage Simmons as well as model Kimora Lee first met on November 22, 1992. They got married on December 20, 1998, on the Island of Saint Barthelemy. They have two kids, Ming Lee (born in 2000) and Aoki Lee (born in 2002). In March of 2006, Simmons announced that he and Lee had ended their relationship and divorced officially two years later.
The following are the beliefs, Simmons. Simmons has been a vegan since 1999. He declares himself a Christian yoga teacher with a passion and respect for various religions. He practices Jivamukti Yoga, which encourages vegetarianism and environmental and social activism. He also is a practitioner of transcendental Meditation (TM) and an advocate of the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace, which was founded to ensure every kid in America who wishes to study and do TM can do it.
Veganism
In 1999 Russell Simmons became a vegan 1999. Russell Simmons is vocal about issues concerning animal rights and is a supporter of various organizations fighting to end suffering for animals. The year 2015 was the first time he launched his book entitled The Happy Vegan: A Practical Guide to Living an Extended, Healthy, and Prosperous Life.
Harriet Tubman sex tape controversy
In August of 2013, Simmons launched the controversial “Harriet Tubman Sex Tape” parody through his channel on YouTube, All Def Digital, that sparked public anger and numerous critics calling for an apology. The video included an actress portraying the anti-slavery activist Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) having an affair in an enslaved person’s house, with the intent of filming the sex and blackmailing him to get that he should join the Underground Railroad.[50 Some members of his neighborhood, like the filmmaker Spike Lee, were offended by the controversial comedy sketch.
I’m an extremely liberal and tolerant person with powerful skin. My initial experience with the Harriet Tubman video was that it dealt with the things that one of the actors stated in the video. That even after 162 years, there’s still a lot of inequity,” Simmons wrote. “And what about Harriet Tubman outwitting the enslaver? I thought that was politically appropriate. It was just me. I understand now why people are in a state of discontent. I will never support violence against women of any form. And to all I have offended, I am truly sorry.”
Despite his apology in 2013, however, the nature of digital, shareable media has allowed the hilarious video to keep circulating through YouTube and across the internet.
Criminal Background -Sexual misconduct, assault, and rape accusations
In November 2017, the model Keri Claussen Khalighi was accused by Simmons of assaulting her in the year 1991, while she was 17 years old. Simmons and Brett Ratner, who Khalighi accused of not intervening when she demanded assistance, both deny that the incident was non-consensual. As the allegations were reported in the media, Terry Crews was accused by Simmons of trying to persuade him to reopen sexual assault accusations that Crews was recently bringing against the film director Adam Venit, asking that Crews “give Simmons a break … and request for his reinstatement.” Crews shared a picture of the alleged e-mail that Simmons had sent him via his Twitter account.
On November 30, 2017, the journalist Jenny Lumet claimed that Simmons was a raped woman in 1991. In reply, Simmons said he would quit his position in his business. The same day, HBO announced that they were removing Simmons, his name and image, from stand-up comedy specials beginning with the December 1 episode.
On December 13 in 2017, On December 13, 2017, The Los Angeles Times published an investigative story that featured five women who accused Simmons of sexual assault, which included another claim of rape. The same day, The New York Times published the stories of four women who had accused Simmons of inappropriate misconduct, as well as three other allegations of sexual assaults. To address the accusations, Simmons stated he “never had an intimate relationship which was not consensual or legally permitted. Ever.”
On February 9, 2018, Simmons denied the allegations to Rolling Stone, declaring (), “I vehemently deny any allegation made against me. They have shaken me to the core because I’ve never been abusive or violent in my relationships with women. I have been blessed to have enjoyed amazing relationships, whether via life or working with various wonderful women. I am extremely proud of the women’s movement worldwide and their fight to be treated with respect, dignity, equal rights, and empowerment. I am deeply disappointed for any reason I might have provided to anyone who might speak or think of me in the currently discussed manner. To avoid becoming an obstacle, I’ve separated myself from my business and charitable organizations.”
On April 25, 2018, Jennifer Jarosik, a filmmaker who claimed Simmons had raped her, voluntarily dismissed her lawsuit. The suit was dismissed without prejudice, which means Jarosik can’t refile her claims in the courtroom.
List of Case of Sexual Harassment & Rape
A few women, including some who were just 17 at the time of the alleged incident, have been accused by Simmons of sexual harassment or assault.
Affliction or sexual harassment
Women who claimed to have been sexually harassed, assaulted, or abused (including attempted sexual assault) by Simmons are:
| Keri Claussen Khalighi, model | Kelly Cutrone, author, and publicist | Luann de Lesseps, reality television personality |
| Lisa Kirk, an acquaintance of Simmons’ | Toni Sallie, music journalist | Amanda Seales, comedian, and actor (verbal harassment) |
| Natashia Williams-Blach is an actress |
Rape
Women who claim to have been victimized by Simmons are:
| Tina Baker, singer-turned-lawyer | Drew Dixon, former music executive in the recording industry. | Sherri Hines, musician |
| Jennifer Jarosik, filmmaker | Jenny Lumet, screenwriter | Sil Lai Abrams, activist, and writer |
Resignation
Following the third assault, the claim was made public in a column written by Jenny Lumet in The Hollywood Reporter in November 2017. Simmons has resigned from his positions at the record label Def Jam Records, his yoga lifestyle brand CNNMoney and various media brands. Lumet was the child of film director Sidney Lumet. The grandchild of the singer as well as civil rights advocate Lena Horne, who wrote: “As a woman of color, I am unable to express how traumatic it is to write about a successful man and of color. … I have a desire to safeguard your daughters. I don’t think you are likely to be protective of mine.”
HBO removed Russell Simmons’ name from All Def Comedy, a show he designed to showcase and launch new comedians. HBO has not eliminated Russell Simmons’ character from Def Comedy Jams.
Documentary
A documentary film focusing on the allegations of sexual assault against Simmons, On the Record, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2020, and then was made available by HBO Max on May 27, 2020. Oprah Winfrey resigned as the film’s executive producer after being intimidated by Simmons to pull the movie and then claiming the existence of “inconsistencies” in Drew Dixon’s narrative, which “gave me the pause.” Winfrey has also stated that she believes in the women who have accused Russell Simmons of sexual assault.
