Sep 22, 2026
Author Spotlight: Mellody Hobson — The First-Generation Student Who Built a Business Empire and a Museum for the People
A deep dive on Mellody Hobson — the Chicago-born, first-generation Princeton graduate who joined Ariel Investments as an intern, rose to co-CEO of a firm managing roughly $14 billion, chaired Starbucks and DreamWorks Animation, and made history as the first African American woman to head the Economic Club of Chicago; the 'color brave' TED talk that reframed how corporate America talks about race; her defining reflections on money as a calling, on making yourself indispensable, and on never letting money make life's big decisions; and the legacy of the woman who co-founded the $1 billion Lucas Museum of Narrative Art with her husband George Lucas — opening to the public on September 22, 2026 — remembered for teaching a generation that money is a language and that anyone can create a masterpiece.