R&B singer Ryan Leslie shared that an early Apple investment made him millions of dollars, thanks to his mentor.
During an episode of the “Earn Your Leisure” podcast, Leslie says that in 2009, he initially invested $100,000.
He watched his stock quickly grow to $350,000 and was ready to cash out before his mentor stopped him.
“I remember a conversation I had with my mentor. I said, ‘Hey look, man. I took your advice and man, $100,000 [turned into] $350,000. I’mma cash out and get something nice for my mom,” he explained.
“And he gave me an ultimatum at that time—he said, ‘Ryan, listen. You can go ahead and cash out, give something nice to your mom. We’ll shake hands and I’ll never teach you anything again. Or, you figure out a different way to give something nice to your mom and hold onto that investment, and we’ll check in every single year around tax time and we’ll see what it grows to.’ And when we checked in this year, that $100,000…was just under $16 million.”
Leslie was fortunate enough to get the game before Apple went on to become a trillion-dollar company. More importantly, Leslie says that mentorship is crucial.
“If it was up to me, I’m looking in the mirror and thinking, ‘Man I’m smart. I made a great investment. It’s given me a great return.’ [But] sometimes, the lens of expertise and the lens of experience can actually provide you wings that allow you to fly further than you can fly on your own,” he said.
