The teenage comedian who built an empire; the media mogul who became an activist. Byron Allen, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group (AMG) and Entertainment Studios, is a big thinker who takes his cues from the likes of Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller.
But it isn’t blind ambition that has pushed Allen to acquire 27 ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox network affiliate broadcast stations, 12 24-hour HD television networks, The Weather Channel, Black News Channel (which he folded into network and website The Grio), digital network HBCUGo and a number of online destinations. His professional conquests have always aligned with his personal goal of promoting racial equality.