Zack O'Malley Greenburg has 4 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 4 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.7★ across 12 ratings. The most-rated is Empire State of Mind.
Empire State of Mind
Summary
"I'm not a businessman. I'm a business, man." —Jay-Z Some people think Jay-Z is just another rapper. Others see him as just another celebrity/mega-star. The reality is, no matter what you think Jay-Z is, he is first and foremost a business. And as much as Martha Stewart or Oprah, he has turned himself into a lifestyle. You can wake up to the local radio station playing Jay-Z's latest hit, spritz yourself with his 9IX cologne, slip on a pair of his Rocawear jeans, lace up your Reebok S. Carter sneakers, catch a Nets basketball game in the afternoon, and grab dinner at The Spotted Pig before heading to an evening performance of the Jay-Z-backed Broadway musical Fela! and a nightcap at his 40/40 Club. He'll profit at every turn of your day. But despite Jay-Z's success, there are still many Americans whose impressions of him are foggy, outdated, or downright incorrect. Surprisingly to many, he honed his business philosophy not at a fancy B school but on the streets of Brooklyn, New York, and beyond as a drug dealer in the 1980s. Empire State of Mind tells the story behind Jay-Z's rise to the top as told by the people who lived it with him. This audiobook explains just how Jay-Z propelled himself from the bleak streets of Brooklyn to the heights of the business world. He also includes new information on Jay-Z's various business dealings, such as: The feature movie about Jay-Z and his first basketball team that was filmed by Fab 5 Freddy in 2003 but never released The Jay-Z branded Jeep that was scrapped just before going into production The real story behind his association with Armand de Brignac champagne The financial ramifications of his marriage to Beyonce Jay-Z's tale is compelling, not just because of his celebrity, but because it embodies the rags-to-riches American dream and is a model for any entrepreneur looking to build a commercial empire.
©2011 Zack O'Malley Greenburg (P)2011 Gildan Media Corp
3 Kings
Summary
Tracing the careers of hip-hop's three most dynamic stars, this deeply reported history brilliantly examines the entrepreneurial genius of the first musician tycoons: Diddy, Dr. Dre, and Jay-Z Being successful musicians was simply never enough for the three kings of hip-hop. Diddy, Dr. Dre, and Jay-Z lifted themselves from childhood adversity into tycoon territory, amassing levels of fame and wealth that not only outshone all other contemporary hip-hop artists, but with a combined net worth of well over two billion dollars made them the three richest American musicians, period. Yet their fortunes have little to do with selling their own albums: between Diddy's Ciroc vodka, Dre's three billion dollar sale of his Beats headphones to Apple, and Jay-Z's Tidal streaming service and other assets, these artists have transcended pop music fame to become lifestyle icons and moguls. Hip-hop is no longer just a musical genre; it's become a way of life that encompasses fashion, film, food, drink, sports, electronics, and more - one that has opened new paths to profit and to critical and commercial acclaim. Thanks in large part to the Three Kings - who all started their own record labels and released classic albums before moving on to become multifaceted businessmen - hip-hop has been transformed from a genre spawned in poverty into a truly global multibillion-dollar industry. These men are the modern embodiment of the American Dream, but their stories as great thinkers and entrepreneurs have yet to be told in full. Based on a decade of reporting, and interviews with more than 100 sources including hip-hop pioneers Russell Simmons and Fab 5 Freddy; new-breed executives like former Def Jam chief Kevin Liles and venture capitalist Troy Carter; and stars from Swizz Beatz to Shaquille O'Neal, 3 Kings tells the fascinating story of the rise and rise of the three most influential musicians in America.
©2018 Zack O'Malley Greenburg (P)2018 Hachette Audio
A-List Angels
Summary
How Hollywood cashed in on the latest tech boom - and changed the face of Silicon Valley. When Ashton Kutcher first heard about 50 Cent's nine-figure Vitaminwater windfall in 2007, the actor realized he'd been missing out. He soon followed the rapper's formula - seeking equity instead of cash for endorsement deals - but with a twist: as the first person to top one million Twitter followers, Kutcher leveraged his social reach to accumulate stakes in a vast range of user-hungry tech startups. A decade later, Kutcher is perhaps the brightest in a firmament of star investors from Beyoncé and Jay-Z to Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez. Bartering credibility and connections in exchange for early (and often discounted) access to the world's most coveted investment opportunities, this diverse group changed the face of venture capital while amassing portfolios packed with companies like Airbnb, Spotify, and Uber. But how did two once-dissonant universes - Silicon Valley and Hollywood - become intertwined? Forbes senior editor Zack O'Malley Greenburg told the first chapter of Kutcher's transformation for the magazine's cover story in 2016. Now he offers a lively, enthralling account of how this motley crew of talent managers, venture capitalists, and celebrities helped the creative class forge a brand-new blueprint for generational wealth. Through extensive reporting and exclusive interviews with more than 100 key players - including Shaq, Nas, Joe Montana, Sophia Bush, Steve Aoki, Tony Gonzalez, and dozens of behind-the-scenes power brokers - Greenburg sheds light on the unlikely group that fundamentally transformed the value of fame.
©2020 Zack O'Malley Greenburg (P)2020 Hachette Audio
Michael Jackson, Inc.
Summary
The surprising rags-to-riches-to-rags-to-riches story of how Michael Jackson grew a billion-dollar business. Michael Jackson is known by many as the greatest entertainer of all time, but he was also a revolutionary when it came to business. In addition to famously buying the Beatles' publishing catalogue, Jackson was one of the first pop stars to launch his own clothing line, record label, sneakers, and video games - creating a fundamental shift in the monetization of fame and paving the way for entertainer-entrepreneurs like Jay Z and Diddy. All told, Jackson earned more than $1.1 billion in his solo career, and the assets he built in life have earned more than $700 million in the five years since his death - more than any other solo music act over that time. Michael Jackson, Inc. reveals the incredible rise, fall, and rise again of Michael Jackson's fortune - driven by the unmatched perfectionism of the King of Pop. Forbes senior editor Zack O'Malley Greenburg uncovers never-before-told stories from interviews with more than 100 people, including music industry veterans Berry Gordy, John Branca, and Walter Yetnikoff; artists 50 Cent, Sheryl Crow, and Jon Bon Jovi; and members of the Jackson family. Other insights come from court documents and Jackson's private notes, some of them previously unpublished. Through Greenburg's novelistic telling, a clear picture emerges of Jackson's early years, his rise to international superstardom, his decline - fueled by demons internal and external, as well as the dissolution of the team that helped him execute his best business moves - and, finally, his financial life after death. Underlying Jackson's unique history is the complex but universal tale of the effects of wealth and fame on the human psyche. A valuable case study for generations of entertainers to come and for anyone interested in show business, Michael Jackson, Inc. tells the story of a man whose financial feats, once obscured by his late-life travails, have become an enduring legacy.
©2014 Zack O'Malley Greenburg (P)2014 Audible Inc.