» Pathfinder Award: Alphonse Fletcher Jr | Highbrid Nation | Because Knowledge is Power

If you were to look at a list of the richest minorities in America, you would see a long list of familiar athletes and entertainers.

The message, spoken or not, seems simple enough: in order to be rich in America, all a black child needs to do is to become an NBA star, a media icon, or the next great rap star.

But most people aren’t going to be NBA stars. Most people won’t become the new Oprah Winfrey. Most people will go to work every day, year in and year out. They will save when they can, spend when they must, and do their best to support themselves and their families.

So in a new segment called the ‘pathfinder award’, I would like to spotlight minorities who made their way and their fortunes without being a famous sports star.

First up… Alphonse Fletcher Jr.

Fletcher had an early love of numbers. In junior high school, he developed a computer program that he and his father (an electrical technician) used to calculate the odds at a local dog racing track.

He continued to follow his passion and received his AB degree in Applied Mathematics from Harvard, and then a masters’ degree in Environmental Management from Yale.

With his education in hand, he went where all motivated mathematicians go… Wall Street.

At Bear Stearns, Fletcher worked in the ‘arbitrage’ department (arbitrage is the process of using math to determine the right times to buy and sell investments).

He then moved on to Kidder Peabody, where he earned $2 million per year. When the company attempted to stiff him out of bonus money he was owed, he successfully sued the company, then used that money to branch off on his own, starting Fletcher Asset Management.

Fletcher Asset Management went on to be wildly successful, producing above-average returns for Fletcher and his partners.

With an estimated net worth of $150 million, Fletcher continues to give back to the community. In 1996, he celebrated the anniversary of Plessy v Ferguson by donating $4.5 million to endow a professorship at Harvard University.

In 2004, he created the Fletcher Foundation, a $50 million charitable organization supporting educators, scientists and economists among others.

In 2004 he was awarded the UNCF ‘Extraordinary Black Man” award and the 2006 ‘candle in the dark’ award from Morehouse College.

Alphonse Fletcher Jr has shown what determination and education can achieve in America. He is a fitting role-model for all children, especially minorities. He is our first Pathfinder Award winner.

For more information on Alphonse Fletcher, see here…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Fletcher

For Fletcher Asset Management, see here…

http://www.fletcher.com/

via highbridnation.com

Posted via email from Brian's posterous