Richelieu Dennis, a successful entrepreneur, was born on February 25, 1969, in Liberia as the son of Mary Dennis. Dennis grew up in Liberia during the civil wars, a period of bloodshed and chaos. Dennis was able to attend fundamental and secondary school in Liberia and Sierra Leone, where his own family occasionally relocated for safety from the conflict in Liberia. Richelieu Dennis attended Babson College in Babson Park, Massachusetts, in the 1980s, a tiny university known for fostering entrepreneurs. He earned a certificate in Finance, Investment, and Entrepreneurial Studies from Babson in 1991.
Start-Up:
Dennis is not capable of returning to Liberia after graduation because of the Liberian civil conflict. He collaborated with his buddy Nyema Tubman and his mother to manufacture herbal bath and hair care items for Black females. Many products they made were based entirely on recipes used by his grandmother in Liberia. Sofi Tucker, his grandmother, died when Richelieu Dennis was 19 years old. She began creating beauty items and selling them in the neighborhood market to support her family. Sundial Brands, founded by Richelieu, Nyema, and Mrs. Dennis, is based on these recipes. Initially, sell their products on Harlem’s streets.
Brand introduction:
Most beauty products for women of color were intended formerly for chemical relaxation. Customers interested in natural beauty products get excluded by large international firms. Sundial Brands’ goods have quickly become very popular. Sundial began by supplying wholesale beauty shops and local stores, and in 1992, Sundial relocated to a big warehouse to accommodate the company’s growth. By the early 2000s, the items were in high demand and encompassed the private care merchandise: Shea Moisture, Nubian Heritage, and Madam A.J. Walker Beauty Culture.
At Presents:
The Sundial gets included in Inc. magazine’s list of the 5000 fastest-growing private firms in the United States in 2015. Unilever paid $1.6 billion for Sundial in 2018. Richelieu Dennis had to stay on as CEO of Sundial as part of the deal. As of February 2022, his net worth is approximately $400 million. He currently receives a salary from Unilever as one of their CEOs, and his net worth grows.