Nick Cannon may have appeared in the headlines these past few weeks due to his personal life, but one thing that cannot be taken away from the daytime talk show host…is his stellar business acumen.
While Cannon has many successful movies and television shows under his belt, not to mention a podcast and radio show, “Wild’ N Out” is undoubtedly one of his biggest triumphs.
“I’ve turned ‘Wild ‘N Out’ into a billion-dollar business, and that’s only because of the entrepreneurial efforts that we put forward,” Cannon told AfroTech. “There were many times when people didn’t believe me from the beginning. I funded ‘Wild ‘N Out’ on my own because MTV didn’t understand it or know what it was. Therefore, I kept the ownership for years until the big boy came around and I had to charge them double for the bag.”
In 2020, Cannon publicly declared the rights to the brand amidst a behind-the-scenes battle with ViacomCBS after the media giant terminated him over allegedly anti-Semitic remarks.
“I created a billion-dollar brand that expanded across a multitiered empire that is still Viacom’s biggest digital brand,” Cannon wrote at the time. “Based on trust and empty promises, my ownership was swindled away from me…I demand full ownership of my billion-dollar Wild’ N Out brand that I created.”
The fight for ownership continued away from the peering eyes of social media, but Cannon’s claims of ownership appear to be legitimate… as he’s further expanding the brand.
He tells AfroTech: “We built this and now we’re doing restaurants. I am opening up a Wild ‘N Out Sports Bar, it would be our second one. Now we’re doing the true flagship one in my hometown of San Diego that opens this month. We also have brick-and-mortar ‘Wild ‘N Out’ and the next one is going to be in Harlem.”
Cannon cites Diddy and others like him as a huge inspiration.
“When I was in high school, I was looking up to guys like Diddy who could diversify and market himself. We see what he’s done and the opportunities he’s created and made for so many of us. Every time I looked up, as much as I knew I wanted to entertain, I was always wanting to be a guy that was kinda moving the pieces behind the scenes,” he explained.
