HBCU alumnus, Atlanta Falcons owner featured as 'guest Shark' on ABC's 'Shark Tank'
10/21/2024 06:13 PM
Morehouse College alumnus and Atlanta Falcons owner, Rashawn Williams, was a guest shark on last week's episode of the hit ABC show Shark Tank. Williams, Walgreens CEO Rosalind Brewer, Olympic gold medalist Dominique Dawes, and well-known filmmaker and producer Will Packer are the newest minority owners of the Atlanta Falcons.
Williams always knew that he wanted to be a "Man of Morehouse." When it was time to submit his application, the Chicago native drove over 700 miles to Atlanta to drop off his application. Determined to get an education, once he was accepted into Morehouse, he applied for 100 scholarships to cover his expenses. Williams graduated from Morehouse in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics.
Following his graduation from Morehouse, Williams worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and started his first venture capital fund worth $10 million. He has invested in more than 170 companies to date. Since 2001, he has been running the Khmer Institute, a nonprofit that teaches financial literacy. Williams will appear in three episodes of Shark Tank, including last week's episode. Williams will be along with current full-time sharks: Barbara Corcoran, Lori Greiner, Kevin O’Leary, and Mark Cuban, who will be leaving the show to focus on his family and other business ventures.
"They were looking to bring some new blood," Williams said, "someone with a different perspective. I'm not a founder or operator. I'm a finance guy, a VC guy.
Williams has invested in several successful companies, including Ring, which was acquired by Amazon in 2018 for $1 billion. He has also invested in companies like Dropbox and Robinhood Markets. In addition to his work as an investor, Williams also works as a "venture coach" to celebrities, giving them advice on what companies to invest in. His celebrity clients include rapper 2 Chainz, former Atlanta Falcons players Roddy White, and Julio Jones.
"One of my favorites is 2 Chainz," he said. "I have been coaching him for eight years. We have invested in over 30 companies together. Awesome business guy and great founder," he said.
New episodes of Shark Tank Fridays on ABC at 8 p.m. and on Hulu on Saturday.
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