50 Cent has enjoyed a great deal of success as a businessman and entrepreneur, and his hard work is now being celebrated by a highly respected non-profit organization.
On Wednesday (May 1), the “P.I.M.P” hitmaker was presented with the Entrepreneurial Leadership Award by the Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship. The honor was handed to him by Power actor Joseph Sikora, who said: “There is no one more befitting of an award for an entrepreneur than Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson.”
“What we’re doing is honoring 50 an award tonight for entrepreneurship, and the reason why it’s a good thing is we’re raising a lot of money for other young entrepreneurs from underprivileged backgrounds so they get in, make money, have success, have their own power in life,” MSNBC host and chief legal correspondent Ari Melber explained about the gathering.
During his acceptance speech, Fif expressed his gratitude and said: “I do want to say thank you to all of the teachers, all of the mentors and all of the volunteers to support G-Unit to this point, because without them, the organization won’t be as successful as it is.”
Last month, the New York City native was honored with his own day in Shreveport, Louisiana after opening his G-Unit Film & TV Studios in the city. He was also presented with a ceremonial key to the city by Mayor Tom Arceneaux during the mid-April ceremony.
“Ladies, gentlemen, Mayor Tom Arceneaux and the wonderful people of Shreveport, it is an honor for me to stand before you here today,” 50 Cent said during the event. “As someone who’s always believed in the transformative power of music, film and television, I’m really excited to show you the expansion of film and television through G-Unit Studios right here in Shreveport.”
In 2023, the 48-year-old received approval from the Shreveport City Council to take over a massive studio in the southern city to base his entertainment company out of. The lease will cost him $2,400 annually for 30 years, after which he can renew it for 15 more if he pleases.
“All roads lead to Shreveport, this is a game changer,” he wrote on Instagram next to an image of a broadcast news story about the endeavor. “Mayor Tom Arceneaux is one of the smartest guys I ever met in my life. Watch how many jobs are created as result of this.”
Prior to that, city council members introduced legislation for the lease of the Millennium Movie Studio as a base for the mogul’s organization.
Soon after it was greenlit, he shared a photo of the colossal brick estate on social media and wrote: “All Roads lead to Shreveport if you ready to work in film and television. G-unit studios Is officially in Louisiana. BOOM GLG GREENLIGHTGANG.”
About welcoming the East coast MC to his city, Arceneaux said: “We enjoyed for a period after 2005, we enjoyed a very robust television and film industry in the Shreveport area. This will bring back, I think, a lot of those people and will rejuvenate that industry in our area. So I think the film industry is about to blossom again in Shreveport.
“[50 Cent]’s undertaking all of the maintenance and repair, which is around 160 to 170 thousand dollars a year. So to look at just the lease payment is not fair to him.”
He continued: “We also anticipate he’s going to make several million dollars of improvements to the facility. This is a very serious proposal, a very serious undertaking by him.”
