Ray J Snags a $31 Million Deal...and it's Not For His Music!
Ray J is known for a lot of things: his hit song “One Wish,” dating Kim Kardashian, being the brother of songstress Brandy, his “Love and Hip-Hop” show.
But many people don’t know the performer is into green energy technology. In fact, he recently secured a $31 million deal with consumer electronics distributor Cowboy Wholesale to launch his own tech company, Raycon Global.
This is not Ray J’s first round around the green tech rodeo, though. His company Raytronics makes the Scoot-E-Bike, a foldable, two-wheeled electric vehicle that gained a bunch of celebrity endorsements in 2015. In a statement, the performer says he sees this new partnership as the next evolution to his already existing tech ventures.
Ray J says he’s also focused on renewable green energy, which is where the world is moving, and he plans to get there first with the help of his Cowboy partners.
“Cowboy Wholesale gets it, and when I say I want something, they go get it for me, and they believe in my dreams,” he told Cheddar.
The green economy has been quickly gaining traction. Marketing firm Euromonitor says that’s propelled by three key factors: a new era of sustainability, low carbon emissions, and a desire for a global energy transformation. Awareness on the part of consumers is at the root of demands. Euromonitor says that green technology supply was driven by a general fear that rapid depletion of resource supply will be detrimental to the environment.
Ray J’s electric bike will hit the market in December. The company also plans to launch other tech items, such as a watch, wireless and entertainment gadgets, and other green vehicles.
The entertainer-turned-entrepreneur says he wants to inspire youth to strive for more than a music or sports career.
And he says he learned some things from ex-partner Kim Kardashian. The TV personality and businesswoman recently launched a perfume line of three fragrances which, according to TMZ, brought in $10 million in one day. Ray J says “numbers don’t lie.”
“We’re doing our part, she’s doing her part, that’s where we all should be,” he said. “I’m married, she’s married … and you see the blessings trickling down.”
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A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
