Ryan L. Smith has never forgotten his past. The young businessman’s career changed by shaking one hand.
“[Smith] is one of the smartest young men,” Magic Johnson told Atlanta media on Oct. 16. “I had the pleasure to grab him when he was in college.”
According to LinkedIn, Smith worked as the director of investments at Magic Johnson Enterprises from 2013-2018.
“He went to Wall Street, then he went to get his Stanford MBA, and he actually did our Sparks deal for us in the WNBA,” Johnson said.
The basketball Hall of Famer became an owner of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks in February 2014.
“This was when he was in college,” Johnson said. “He did a fantastic job of negotiating that deal.”
Before meeting Johnson and earning his master’s at Stanford, however, Smith received his bachelor’s degree from Howard University.
“The HBCU experience is unparalleled,” Smith told rolling out. “If you think about it, from the perspective of minorities, you live your life being a minority, it’s the one place you can go and not be a minority and be around people who look like you who are excelling. From the Howards to the Morehouses to the Spelmans to the Clarks to Morris Browns – it’s a beautiful experience we need to invest in and support because it is life-changing.”
Smith’s latest venture is becoming the executive vice president of the historic Atlanta Life Insurance Company, which Johnson recently announced purchasing. In addition to bringing its Black-owned insurance services back to the market, the entity will also host events educating the Black community about finances. The group already held an event for middle school-aged students on Oct. 14, which included an appearance from T.I. Smith will move from Los Angeles to Atlanta to take on all duties full-time.
