News — Millionaire

Todd Baldwin was raised by his single mom. Now 27 years old, he is a millionaire with multiple streams of income. What’s more, Baldwin saves 80% of his earnings and does not engage in frivolous expenses.

The serial entrepreneur started working when he was only 12 years old. He would save much of what he earned as he considered it as not only a sound financial management practice but fun. “It’s actually really fun being able to buy something and then choosing not to,” he tells CNBC.

The African-American entrepreneur now brings home $615,000 annually ($305,000 after business expenses) from his multiple businesses. His mixed-income comes from rental properties, his day job working in commercial insurance sales, and the extra cash he makes as a secret shopper.

He owns six rental properties with his wife, Angela, which brings in the majority of the revenue he makes. For instance, they earn $460,000 per year in rent and keep about $150,000 of that per year after expenses such as mortgage payments, taxes, insurance, and utilities.

“Although our net worth is seven figures, we don’t do a lot of the typical things that most people envision millionaires doing. We are super frugal,” says Baldwin.

The entrepreneur says he is able to save as much as 80% of his income because he keeps his expenses so low. He does not pay for entertainment like movies or restaurants because he gets paid for that as a mystery shopper. He gets paid for dining out, grocery shopping, seeing movies, and visiting hotels and casinos.

“There are a lot of businesses out there that want to know how their employees are doing and how the market is responding to their products,” he explains. “So those companies will hire mystery shopping firms to find independent contractors like me to go pose at their establishment as a regular customer, buy the product or service and then report on it.”

Baldwin started mystery shopping while he was in college and has so far made $30,000. Since he started mystery shopping, Baldwin and his wife spend around $25 on food. Another thing Baldwin tries to avoid is spending money on needless bank account fees or credit card charges.

Despite being very conscious of what to spend his money on, the serial entrepreneur has no qualms about spending on his wife. Even that, he needs approval. He recalls spending $500 on a designer purse for his wife but she took it back and exchanged it for a $60 purse.

“My wife is more frugal than I am!” he says. “A couple of years ago, I bought her a designer purse for like 500 bucks. But when I surprised her with it, she immediately took it back, exchanged it for a $60 purse at Macy’s, and then we invested the difference.”

The mid-2000s were a great time for hip-hop. New sounds and artists sprang up and many of these artists became instant hitmakers. But while some sustained their success, others faded away just like the way they emerged onto the scene.

One of those who went away was Chamillionaire, fondly remembered for his 2005 hit song “Ridin”.

In 2005, “Ridin” was a global hit and was a favorite choice for everyone’s ringtone. The song was atop the Billboard Hot 100 for weeks. But interestingly, the social message of “Ridin” – essentially addressing the profiling of young Black men by the police – went over many heads. After that hit single, Chamillionaire, unsuccessfully, released a couple of others.

As his music career begun to take a downward trajectory, Chamillionaire, had a ‘Plan B.’ He quickly learned the ropes of becoming an entrepreneur. 15 years on, he has transitioned from a rapper to a big-time entrepreneur, investing in tech firms and early start-ups.

Born Hakeem Seriki in Washington D.C., the rapper actually began his entrepreneurial journey in 2004 when he founded his own record label called Chamillitary Entertainment. He later invested in Maker Studio, a multipurpose digital platform, which was sold to Disney for a reported $500 million in 2014.

Chamillionaire then joined Upfront Ventures as its “entrepreneur-in-residence” in 2015. The Santa Monica based venture capital firm invests in early-stage technology companies. It is the largest venture capital company in Los Angeles, with $2 billion in total raised funds. Some of its notable investment includes Ulta, Overture, PayPal Credit, TrueCar, Disney Digital Network, Kyriba, and Ring.

The Grammy-winning rapper also invested in Cruise which has been acquired by General Motors for $1 billion) and ride-sharing app, Lyft, according to Forbes. The rapper has also bought stakes in Ring, a doorbell technology that has been acquired by Amazon.

In 2018, he launched his own app named Convoz to rival Twitter which he believes has been hijacked by trolls. The video-centric app aims to be a “place where you go to talk to people,” he told TechCrunch. 

“I just wasn’t happy with the communication channels that are currently [exist] on social media,” he added. The app allows users to post a 15-second video to celebrities of their choice. They can watch and decide to respond or not.

According to CNBC, the bullish investor holds investments in more than 40 start-up companies. He recently announced a competition to invest $100,000 in a minority or woman founded start-up company. Haitian born Pierre Laguerre, who made an entry with his fleeting company, emerged as the winner. Fleeting is a mobile platform that connects commercial truck drivers with on-demand trucking jobs.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, the rapper and entrepreneur has a net worth of over $50 million. But there’s no betting against the 40-year-old rising up the millionaire ladder.