Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. has turned down Paramount’s $108 billion bid. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, Netflix agreed to acquire Warner Bros in a deal with a total enterprise value of approximately $82.7 billion (equity value of $72.0 billion). The boards of directors for both Warner Bros and Netflix are in favor of the deal. Netflix states the agreement would position it to define the “ next century of storytelling.” “For more than a century, Warner Bros. has thrilled audiences, captured the world’s attention, and shaped our culture. By coming together with Netflix, we will ensure people everywhere will continue to enjoy the world’s most resonant stories for generations to come,” President and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., David Zaslav, commented in a Dec. 5 press release. Days later, Paramount entered the race for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., making a rival bid of $30.00 per share, for an overall enterprise value of $108.4 billion, per a separate AFROTECH™ article....
Rayna Reid Rayford is aware that her maternal health experience was far from an anomaly. Rayford, a lawyer and strategic communicator, had a challenging start to parenthood. Early on, when she met her now husband, they had conversations about children and agreed they wanted just one. When they embarked on that journey, it was hard for Rayford to conceive, and she experienced two consecutive miscarriages within a couple of months. The second miscarriage was so painful that she went to the emergency room. “We started to meet with fertility doctors and I started to think, ‘Is something wrong with me?’ You really start to internalize a lot. And then it was at that juncture that we actually found out we were pregnant for the third time in the calendar year,” Rayford told AFROTECH™. This was in December 2023. She is grateful to have “survived” pregnancy. She worked with a doula after the first trimester because it was important to her to have a comprehensive 360-degree support system,...
Omar Shaheed III stepped into unfamiliar territory in technology, and now he is setting an example after accomplishing a historical first. The 23-year-old graduated from Berkeley High School in 2020 and was offered an opportunity to apply to South Carolina State University’s mechatronics engineering program by Dr. Hasanul Basher, a professor and chairman of SC State’s Department of Engineering Technology, according to a press release shared with AFROTECH™. The program was in its infancy, and Shaheed was its first student. The program is geared toward equipping students in electronics, control systems, robotics, communications, computer technology, and power systems to work at companies such as Boeing, BMW, Eli Lilly, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, according to information on the program’s website. When Dr. Basher approached Shaheed, the program was still in development at the Historically Black College and University (HBCU). Shaheed admitted he was...
Michael Johnson’s track and field league, Grand Slam Track, has filed for bankruptcy, according to AP News. Grand Slam Track Promises As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Johnson’s love for the sport, which is reflected in his records in the 200- and 400-meter races, also led him into ownership. He secured “the single largest investment in track and field history,” per Sportico, to launch Grand Slam Track in 2024. Johnson intended to ensure athletes could commercialize their rights and promised never-before-seen payouts of $100,000 for the top winners of four meets. A total of $3 million in funding was allocated as prize money for each meet. What Went Wrong In the end, Johnson was unable to keep his word. The league reportedly fell short in compensating athletes and vendors. “Due to our strong desire to make this right as quickly as possible, we offered dated payment timelines and have been unable to meet them,” Johnson confessed in an August 2025 Instagram post. View this post on...
An affordable housing project supported by NBA great Allen Iverson in Newport News, VA, is moving forward. Iverson Landing 13 News reports that Iverson teamed up with developer Alvin Keels Jr. on the project named Iverson Landing, which is geared toward working families and part of an overall effort to increase housing options in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones has also been vocal about affordable housing options with a goal of opening 21,000 affordable housing units by 2050, and he intends to reach it by working with emerging developers “who will shape the future of our communities,” he said in a Facebook post. This puts Iverson and Keels’ project squarely in line with a broader agenda to invest in affordable housing. The Iverson Landing will be based in Newport News, Iverson’s hometown, which he credits with shaping the person he is today — an NBA legend, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer, tech investor, and vice president of Reebok...
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is still on top. ‘Cowboy Carter’ Tour The artist has been having quite a year. Her most recent album, “Cowboy Carter,” was released in March 2024 and honored her southern country roots. She earned Grammy awards for “Album of the Year” and “Best Country Album” the following year and began a global tour. “This was born from my love and respect for the rich country genre,” Beyoncé told Pollstar about “Cowboy Carter.” “The overall intention for this tour was to celebrate American resiliency,” she continued. View this post on Instagram The “Cowboy Carter” tour has now become the top-earning world tour in 2025. According to IQ Magazine, the tour generated $407.6 million from 1.57 million ticket sales, across 32 shows. “The impact of the ‘Cowboy Carter’ era on the country genre will only continue to grow. It has reinvigorated a space that now has a new audience. And in ten years, the young girls and boys who saw the show will become adults who believe they can be...
The Weeknd has closed an unconventional catalog deal. AFROTECH™ has reported various master’s and publishing deals over the years, which include Nelly, Hit-Boy, Wiz Khalifa, and T-Pain, who all secured deals with Black woman-owned HarbourView Equity Partners. The Weeknd — also known as Abel Tesfaye — appears to be the next artist in line to secure a deal tied to his catalog. Variety reports the “Wake Me Up” artist has finalized a deal with Lyric Capital Group, an investment firm focused on music royalties, to invest in his master’s and publishing catalog through 2025, while he and his team maintain creative control and continue as shareholders and owners. Additionally, half of the artist’s publishing rights were owned by Chord Music Partners. The exact value of the deal was not disclosed . The deal is said to be a “first-of-its-kind,” per Variety. The Weeknd was not interested in the sale of his catalog, which opened doors to an agreement that allows him and his team to maintain...
Bun B always saw the full potential of what has become a beloved burger spot in Houston. The UGK rapper is co-founder of Trill Burgers, which offers smash burgers, lemonade, and fries, and on Tuesdays, smash tacos. Andy Nguyen (creative director) and Nick Scurfield (chief marketing officer), as well as chefs Mike Pham (chief operating officer) and Fernando Valladares (executive chef) are also co-founders in the business. Trill Burgers’ first storefront opened in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston in 2023 and had already secured the accolade of making the best burger in America by “Good Morning America” a year earlier, as AFROTECH™ previously told you. The business has been a fixture at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo since 2023 and also earned its Gold Buckle Foodie Award for Best Classic Fair Food. Additionally, Trill Burgers is a vendor at Texas Dow Employees Credit Union Stadium for University of Houston football games, according to information shared with AFROTECH™. “I’ve...
Is T-Pain taking over Twitch? The “I’m Sprung” artist currently has 1.1 million followers on the platform. While speaking on “Club Shay Shay,” he shared that he’s using Twitch to take fans behind the scenes on how he develops his music, starting with the first beat, leading up to the release of a song, which can sometimes be done in the span of a week. He says most of his studio workflow is a solo grind, with his wife and children occasionally joining him to help write a few bars. “I’m making all my music on Twitch,” he said on the podcast. “Every single that I release, everything that happens right now, you can clock it from me making the first sound to putting it out. Like all the way from me making the first sound of the beat, making the whole beat, recording the vocals, and then putting it out. I can show you the entire process on Twitch. It’s been not only a liberating thing for me, but it’s turned into an eyeopener to the viewers, for other artists,” he added. And he’s not the...
Deidre Mathis caught the travel bug, and it led her to become an entrepreneur in the hospitality industry. While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in graphic communication and broadcast journalism at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University , she studied abroad in the Dominican Republic during her sophomore year, she told AFROTECH™. After graduation, she wasn’t fulfilled in her profession, which prompted her to return to school to earn a master’s degree in corporate communications. Then she moved to Australia, staying in a range of hostels and boutique hotels. “I was living there, and I was just traveling around by myself, and I was staying in a bunch of hostels and a bunch of boutique hotels because those were places that were easy for me to meet people because I was by myself,” she told AFROTECH™. “I always tell people I had my ‘Oprah aha moment’ one day when I was staying in this beautiful hotel, and it was this small, cute hotel. It had 12 rooms, and I said, ‘You know what? I...
DeAndre Brown’s decision to walk away from the corporate world is still paying off. The Morehouse College grad entered corporate life after securing internships at top investment banks such as Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. He went on to land a full-time role at Citigroup in 2021 as a global consumer banking analyst, according to information on his LinkedIn. Brown began leaning into social media, and what would place him on the map was creating content under the moniker “The Corporate Baddie,” which resonated most with Gen Z, who make up the majority of his following. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, his content explores how Gen Z is enforcing work boundaries and prioritizing mental health. @imdrebrown Have you filed your taxes yet? What’s the hold up!? The tax deadline is April 15th and @Intuit TurboTax has you covered! Get started today! #ad #turbotaxpartner ♬ original sound – DeAndre Brown At the time of this writing, Brown has garnered 1.1 million followers and 76.4 million likes...
Isaiah Chavous isn’t anti-AI, but he is on a mission to protect what makes art human. Chavous’s stance is reflected in his footprint as a founder, which marries his passion for music. His mother, a single parent, introduced him to soulful music as a child, but he would take it to new heights by becoming a musician, something uncommon in his family. At age 13, he was making and recording his own music. He described himself as becoming a “bit of a geek” in the band from sixth grade through high school, when he solidified his passion for music, leading him to create a brand called Wifi Kids. “I used it as a vessel to be creative, not only to make music and put out music, but to host events and make merchandise and get into fashion,” Chavous told AFROTECH™. He continued, “It also correlated to my first introduction to technical products — building websites, designing things, becoming efficient in Adobe Photoshop and Premiere. And I remember having a cracked version of all of the...
Beats Academy is providing students with real industry experience alongside notable athletes such as Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles. Founded in 2023, Beats Academy, based in Los Angeles, is a program affiliated with audio brand Beats by Dr. Dre. The organization was born out of a need for college students in creative fields to secure roles after earning their degrees. Beats’ Head of Social Impact, Alexis Johnson, told AFROTECH™ that students were surveyed about their experiences in other programs. The consensus was that you can have multiple internships under your belt, but without tangible works or writing samples to show to an employer, that experience becomes less impactful. Who Can Apply? From its inception, Beats Academy has been committed to providing students enrolled in two- or four-year degree programs (including students in graduate and technical schools) with hands-on experience to work on a campaign with a Beats ambassador. Students can network with top creative marketing...
The U.S. Department of Education will be deploying a new round of mental health grants. According t o Education Week, the Education Department will distribute more than $208 million to school-based mental health programs to train and hire additional providers and psychologists. The funding follows the Trump administration’s decision in April to cut over 200 health grants, totaling $1 billion, for recipients who incorporated diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) commitments into hiring, recruitment, training, and certification practices, notes a separate Education Week article. In a news release, the Department of Education claim the grants that were discontinued prioritized “the racial characteristics of providers and divisive ideologies, instead of focusing on competent provision of proven mental health interventions for students.” Now, the Education Department has awarded a new round of grants to 65 recipients. Education Week reports that 33 of those recipients are “rural states...
Instagram users can have more control over their algorithm. According to ABC News, the social media company announced a new feature, Your Algorithm. Using AI, it will generate a summary of users’ interests by analyzing their activity. Tessa Lyons, vice president of product at Instagram, told “Good Morning America.” “If we get it wrong, you can remove those interests from your algorithm,” she said in the interview. The feature can be accessed by navigating to the Reels tab, where users will find an icon shaped like two lines with a heart. They will be presented with a dashboard that shows their interests and can select what they would like to view more or less of, per ABC News. “Being able to tell us that directly so that we can take action in real time, I think, will improve their Instagram experience,” Lyons said on “Good Morning America.” “This is one way for you to give us feedback on what you’re seeing on reels that can influence the reels you’re seeing going forward. And I...
