

Want to be a Great Investor? Become 50 Cent or Die Tryin' - yoseph
http://blog.vuru.co/post/2730291346/want-to-be-a-great-investor-become-50-cent-or-die

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henrikschroder
Yes, it's impressive that he managed to do a pump and dump over Twitter and
that 240% returns is a fantastic number, but it's an _illegal_ way to make
money, it's the kind that earns you jail-time. Is that the sign of a great
investor?

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artmageddon
>"Many investors can only dream of achieving returns of that magnitude by
typing less than 140 characters."

For a second, I thought 50 Cent had become the new Jim Cramer. For all of 50
Cent's business tenacity, the article tries very hard to sweep his rap history
under the rug as though it's just a coincidence to his success. If you ask any
random person on the street "Who is 50 Cent?" a large majority of answers will
be "a rapper" as opposed to "investor".

Many artists use their name as a brand to get endorsements:

His shoe line has generated over $70 million in revenue for Reebok ->
Endorsement

His apparel line created in collaboration with Mark Ecko generates around $100
million in revenue -> Endorsement

Yes, he made a ton of money off of the Glaceau investment. What more was there
about Glaceau that appealed to him? I think any serious investor understands
that brand recognition and not hanging out with wankstas are key, but the
article doesn't go beyond it. Also, not everyone gets to(or will, for that
matter) hang out with Warren Buffet and Peter Thiel.

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AndyParkinson
I follow Vuru because (I thought) they were working on some Value Investing
goodness and they tend to have some good insights.

From the title of this article in particular, I thought they were actually
going to rip him a new one. I kept waiting for some snarky comments or a
"GOTCHA!" and was disappointed to find none.

The fact is that "fitty" convinced a group of unsophisticated Twitter
followers to gamble in the market by buying a highly speculative stock that
they don't understand. He shouldn't be praised for getting a 240% return for
that. He's a smart guy, but this H&H thing is a terrible example of investing
to inspire an article.

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yoseph
Hi Guys,

I'm the author of the article and would just like to explain a couple things
before discussing the article in more detail:

1\. 50 Cent did not "pump & dump" this stock, as far as we are aware. We would
certainly not condone that type of behaviour, as not only is it unethical but
also illegal.

2\. None of the members of the Vuru team nor any associated parties own any
shares in HNHI.OB.

@artmageddon

We weren't trying to sweep his rap history under the rug. The title of the
article calls him 50 Cent... What we were attempting to achieve was paint him
as more than just a rap star with an entrepreneurial streak. In our opinion,
he's more an entrepreneur with a musical streak.

Even in his music, he's focused on producing mass market rap. The type that
rings up millions in sales. He's not as focused on the art aspect of it.
Compare him to Kanye West who is certainly more focused on the art of music.
50 follows a specific formula to create hits and encourages all artists on his
label to do the same. He's about the money.

@andyparkinson

We are working on some Value Investing goodness and I'm glad that you do
follow us for our insights.

In relation to the Twitter debacle, the article's focus is on the rules 50
Cent follows in achieving strong investment results. While we'd agree that
uneducated investors shouldn't buy stocks nor should any investors buy pink
sheets, we think it's unfair to crucify 50 for pushing a stock that he
believes in.

As Jesse Eisenberg questioned, "Is what 50 Cent did really that different from
what happens all day long on CNBC when professional money managers take to the
airwaves to praise the stocks of companies they already own?" We believe that
they are similar situations, assuming 50 didn't know any bad non-public
information about the stock and touted it anyways.

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artmageddon
Thanks for responding! Those are good points brought up regarding his music
and how he seeks to sell as much as possible. Personally I'm a fan of his(for
the most part), so admittedly my view is probably a little biased. I should
perhaps clarify that I was hoping that there was more about what exactly sets
him apart from other investors out there when it comes to the decisions that
he makes.

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frankdenbow
He also secured $200mm (!) for his movie production company to produce 10
movies.
[http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/10/50_cent_just_go...](http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/10/50_cent_just_got_200_million_t.html)

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trotsky
Hard for me to imagine why HNHI wasn't mentioned by name as the penny 50 was
manipulating unless the author of the article is long it as well.

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jhamburger
How many people can say they made money the white-boy version of slinging
crack rock, AND slinging actual crack rock?

