I find Magic Johnson to be a very impressive business man. If you hear the guy talk or look at him, you kinda get this dumb, goofy, magical negro vibe but the guy has built a serious empire in the business world since retiring from basketball. He’s built a ton of movie theaters, brought Starbucks to the good and found a cure for AIDS. Now he may be looking to purchase Ebony and Jet magazines.

Caught this over at Black Web 2.0…

Bloomberg is reporting that Magic Johnson is interested in acquiring Johnson Publishing, the parent company of Ebony and Jet Magazines. If acquired the Johnson Publishing would become part of Magic Johnson Enterprises, the current holding company for all of Magic Johnson’s businesses including Starbucks and TGIF. Should the deal go through this would be Magic Johnson Enterprise’s only business in media. Bloomberg spoke with Eric Holoman, president of Magic Johnson Enterprises and while he mentioned their had been discussions he did admit to no deal being in place:

“There have been discussions…There’s no definitive agreement.”

He declined to comment further. Head honcho Linda Johnson Rice on the other hand did not comment at all and declined Bloomberg’s request for an interview. Wendy Parks, spokeswoman for Johnson Publishing said Johnson Rice “has never talked to Magic Johnson with respect to his interest in buying.”

As cool as it might sound, I honestly think that Johnson taking over Jet and Ebony would be a bad idea. Even though these magazines have a long legacy, the print industry is losing money hand over fist as more and more people look to online sources for their daily reading. Unless Magic also has a cure for a industry with no potential future, then he may want to stick to bringing expensive coffee to low income neighborhoods.

[Black Web 2.0]