Master P, Baron Davis Set Out To Prove There’s No Limit No Black Ownership, In Talks To Acquire Reebok For $2.5 Billion!
TheRoot.com, By Jay Connor, Posted January 25th 2021
With a rumored net worth of approximately $250 million, if Master P knows about anything, it’s getting to the bag.
From his No Limit empire to his various entrepreneurial pursuits spanning film and television, sports, real estate, fashion, and whatever the hell else he can flip into a profit, the “Make ‘Em Say Uhh!” rapper is no joke when it comes to savvy business moves. And now, according to ESPN and Forbes, the New Orleans native might be on the brink of his most lucrative power move yet.
In 2005, Adidas acquired Reebok with the hopes of commandeering a larger share of the sneaker market from Nike. But with Reebok struggling in recent years, and its owners now looking to sell the company, Master P–born Percy Miller—and former NBA star Baron Davis are in talks to swoop in and acquire the iconic brand. Its price tag? $2.4 billion.
“I think Reebok is being undervalued,” Davis told Forbes. “I left Nike as a 22-year-old kid representing myself and made the jump to Reebok, which took a chance on me as a creative and as an athlete. I want the people I know athletes, influencers, designers, celebs to sit at the table with me.”
According to Master P, whose own No Limit Clothing was kind of a big deal in a past life, the plan to revitalize Reebok includes following in the footsteps of companies like Nike and building it out into a lifestyle brand.
“As we focus on turning Reebok into a lifestyle brand, not just a basketball brand, our most important initiative will be to put money back into the community that built this company,” he told Forbes.
He’s also acutely aware of the doors he can open for smaller sneaker and apparel companies by offering distribution and the historic implications of a company of Reebok’s stature shifting into a Black-owned business.
“These companies have been benefiting off us,” P told ESPN. “This could be history for this company going Black-owned.”
As previously noted, taking Reebok off of Adidas’ hands won’t be cheap. But after months of negotiations, Davis and Master P are confident that they’re “prepared financially” to close the deal.
“Imagine if Michael Jordan owned Reebok?” P told ESPN “That’s what I’m talking about making history.”
Can Baron Davis and Master P return Reebok—which reported a 44 percent drop in sales in the second quarter of 2020 and only accounted for eight percent of Adidas’ total sales in the first half of the year—to its former glory? That remains to be seen. But a wise man once told me to always bet on Black, so we’ll keep you updated on this story.
Menace to supremacy. Founder of Extraordinary Ideas and co-host and producer of The Extraordinary Negroes podcast. Impatiently waiting for ya’ll to stop putting sugar in grits.
