Our marathon players.

Johnson Publishing Co. Inc

In 1942, John H. Johnson hocked his mother's furniture for $500 to launch Negro Digest, a weekly publication that compiled news and events for African Americans. He transformed that fledgling venture into Johnson Publishing Company Inc. (JPC), one of the world's most powerful black business empires. More than 30 years later, JPC, the publisher of influential magazines such as Ebony and Jet, would be recognized on BLACK ENTERPRISE's first listing of the nation's largest black-owned businesses--The Top 100--as the nation's second largest black-owned business, with gross sales of $23.1 million and a staff of 245. Besides amassing wealth and employing scores of African Americans, Johnson had created publications that civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson said allowed us to see "ourselves, our culture, our potential." To gain much-needed advertising, Johnson became the first publisher to try to persuade companies of the value of segmented marketing and the power of the black consumer market.

It took decades for Johnson to break the advertising barrier. He turned JPC into a powerhouse due, in large part, to his iron will. In addition to Ebony and Jet, JPC generated revenues from, among other areas, a book publishing division, television production, and two beauty care lines--Supreme Beauty Products and the world-renowned Fashion Fair Cosmetics. By 2005, the year of Johnson's death, JPC grossed $496 million and had more than 1,700 employees.

Unlike many family-owned enterprises, Johnson developed a succession plan and left a rock-solid institution to his protege and daughter, Linda Johnson Rice. As president and CEO, Rice has adopted her father's steadfast operational and sales approach while identifying ways to leverage one of black America's most enduring brands.

When Herman J. Russell ought his first property in 1946--a vacant lot where he later built a duplex--it's likely that the ambitious 16-year-old had no idea what his first entrepreneurial endeavor would lead to. From those humble beginnings, Russell would go on to build a construction powerhouse that has consistently ranked among the nation's largest blackowned companies and defined how an African American entrepreneur can stake a claim in the white-dominated construction industry.

The CEO of H. J. Russell & Co.--which has grown from the 19th largest black-owned business on BE's Top 100 in 1973 with sales of $6 million to No. 15 on the 2007 BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE 100 with $364.4 million in gross sales--helped create monumental Atlanta landmarks such as the Georgia Dome and Coca-Cola headquarters. Always maintaining an eye on the bottom line and an iron grip on expenses, Russell demonstrated a business acumen that enabled him to beat out not only minority competitors but larger, white-owned companies as well.

Over the past few decades, H. J. Russell & Co. would continue to snag high-profile construction contracts. Among them were Centennial Olympic Stadium/Turner Field in 1994, and Philips Arena in 1999. With his success, Russell grew more philanthropic, donating a total of $4 million to his alma mater and to Clark Atlanta University, Georgia State University, and Morehouse College to expand their entrepreneurship programs.

At the end of 2003, Russell passed the torch to his youngest son, Michael. While the elder Russell remains chairman of the Atlanta-based firm, the younger Russell manages its day-to-day operations. With all of his children involved in the family business, Russell has ensured that his company will have a legacy as impressive as the Atlanta skyline.

Earl G. Graves Ltd.

When Earl G. Graves published the first issue of BLACK ENTERPRISE in August 1970, he sought to revolutionize the business world. He declared in that inaugural issue: "Lacking capital, managerial, and technical knowledge and crippled by prejudice, the minority businessman has been effectively kept out of the American marketplace. We want to help change this."

After 37 years, African Americans have come a long way since BLACK ENTERPRISE embraced that mission. Today, African American total money income exceeds $720 billion annually. Black executives, many identified early in their careers as rising stars by BE, have gained a solid foothold in the senior leadership of the nation's major public corporations. Since the publication established the BE 100s, the nation's largest black-owned enterprises have experienced exponential growth, from less than half a billion dollars in revenues in 1973 to more than $27 billion today.

As black America has progressed, so has the parent company, Earl G. Graves Ltd. It has evolved from a single-magazine publisher to a multimedia conglomerate. Today, BE's gospel of wealth-building and business success is delivered via multiple platforms, including syndicated radio reports (in partnership with Clear Channel Communications); two weekly television shows; a top-rated Website, blackenterprise.com; and premier business networking events such as the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference.

Although Graves continues to serve as the chairman and publisher, he turned the reins of leadership over to the second generation when he named son Earl "Butch" Graves Jr. CEO in 2006. His other two sons are also part of this seamless management transition: John serves as counsel to the chairman while Michael is BE'S executive vice president of corporate sales and marketing. And the company has completed its shift from an entrepreneur-driven entity to a professionally managed corporation with a management team in place that was trained at the best schools and the world's leading companies.

As the BE 100s achieves another milestone, the company remains dedicated to ensuring that African Americans fully participate in the free-enterprise system and get their share of the American dream.