Richelieu Dennis, photo: Harvard Business School
Richelieu Dennis may be considered a business titan, but his journey started with humble beginnings. The current owner of Essence magazine, Dennis, is the enigmatic buyer of Diddy’s Revolt.
From his groundbreaking foray, entrepreneurship started with skincare with SheaMoisture. He sold and manufactured the skincare line under his personal care company Sundial Brand, which he sold to Unilever in 2017 for $1.6 billion, according to Forbes. Then came his strategic acquisition of Essence magazine, and now his acquisition of Revolt, which Sean “Diddy” Combs decided to sell amid his array of sexual assault lawsuits and an investigation and raid of his home by Homeland Security.
Here are 13 things to know about the mogul who purchased Revolt from Diddy, after buying Essence magazine.
Dennis has seemingly emerged as the mystery buyer of Diddy’s television network, Revolt, at least according to Page Six.
“The deal is already done, and they are getting ready to announce it in the upcoming days,” an insider told Page Six. “But of course, now with the raid and everything else going on, it will appear as though he is purchasing after the fact.”
The source continued, “It was important [to] Sean to get a buyer that was African American because he wants to keep the legacy of having a Black-owned business. He started it off that way and he wants it to continue on that path.”
Dennis seemed to understand the challenges many women face in a beauty industry that took their money without truly serving their needs.
“Black women got tired of being told how they should look and the narrow beauty standards they should meet,” Dennis stated on the website. So he tried to give Black women products that they needed, wanted, and that was healthy.
Dennis made his mark in the skincare industry, co-founding SheaMoisture in Harlem during the 1990s. He went on to found Sundial Brands, for beauty and skincare products using and sustainable resources.
He started selling raw shea butter and African black soap on the streets of Harlem. SheaMoisture, which revolutionized the mass beauty market, hit retail shelves in 2008. However, Sundial Brands had previously sparked the burgeoning natural hair movement by rejecting harsh chemicals in favor of employing organic, all-natural ingredients. Consequently, the company’s products swiftly gained a devoted following on the streets of New York, becoming cult favorites in the process. SheaMoisure, for example, was made in cooperation with at least 15 women’s cooperatives in Northern Ghana, where it sourced its shea butter, according to the company’s website.
Dennis grew up in Liberia. In 1987, amid civil unrest in Liberia, Dennis found himself in America, where he embarked on his entrepreneurial journey. To support himself, he sold shea butter from his dorm room at Babson College, Inc. reported. And he made his way to Harlem, New York City.
Dennis seemed to understood the challenges that many women were facing in a beauty industry that took their money without truly serving their needs.
“Black women got tired of being told how they should look and the narrow beauty standards they should meet,” Dennis stated on the website. So he tried to give Black women products that they needed, wanted, and that was healthy.
In 2018, Dennis ventured into media ownership by purchasing Essence magazine from Time Inc., further expanding his business portfolio.
Dennis faced initial challenges at Essence, resigning as interim CEO amid calls for management changes. However, he remained as chairman.
Using the alias “Black Female Anonymous” in a public letter, employees of Essence magazine called for Dennis’ resignation, alongside other leadership alterations. They asserted that women were subjected to systematic suppression through pay inequity, sexual harassment, corporate intimidation, colorism, and classism. Moreover, they accused the company of being overrun by cultural and corporate greed, leading to an abuse of power. The staffers criticized executives for the ironic twist of events: A publication originally intended to empower Black women ended up mistreating and exploiting the very women it aimed to uplift, The Daily Beast reported.
There were also complaints that Dennis was more focused on the money-making Essence Festival and events, neglecting the magazine.
The acquisition of Revolt by Dennis comes amid Homeland Security raids at Diddy’s residences, adding intrigue to the deal.
Diddy expressed his desire to keep Revolt as a Black-owned business, aligning with Dennis’s commitment to preserving Black ownership in media.
Dennis’s entrepreneurial journey reflects his commitment to empowering communities, particularly women of color, through initiatives like the New Voices Fund.
Another was through the Ghanaian cooperatives Dennis partnered with for SheaMoisture.
“We want to train, educate, and provide better facilities and equipment so they can make products they can sell to other people and other businesses,” he said in the SheaMoisure company bio. “We’ve created a model that demonstrates how businesses can simultaneously be successful and purpose-driven and we aim to impact everyone in our ecosystem in a positive economic way.”
In the U.S., Sundial supports girls and women through mentorship and educational fellowships that focus on entrepreneurship, direct investments into their businesses, and other programs that help Sundial achieve its purpose of “empowering people to live more beautiful lives,” Dennis said.
The New Voices Fund, created as part of the Sundial Brands acquisition, aims to support women of color entrepreneurs, providing them with resources and opportunities for growth.
According to its website, New Voices Fund is a thesis-driven venture capital firm, comprised of career investors and former founders and operators, aiming to amplify the voices and needs of the New General Market.
Dennis’s investment in NaturAll Club, a hair care startup, highlights his dedication to fostering minority-owned businesses and helping them scale.
Despite his success, Dennis remains connected to his roots, actively engaging with communities and supporting initiatives aimed at breaking cycles of poverty.
He said on the Sundial website, “The bigger we get, the more women we can help to either get out of poverty or develop the resources and skills to ensure she never experiences poverty — and that will always be our biggest driver.”
Richelieu Dennis, photo: Harvard Business School
