From founder drama to sports expansion deals and AI innovation, these are the stories shaping the conversation around Black money and power this week.

Welcome to Black Wealth Watch, where we round up the biggest stories in Black business and economic news each week — the wins, the setbacks, the deals getting done, and the conversations we should be having about money, power, and who actually gets a seat at the table.

This week came with a full plate. Pinky Cole is navigating yet another storm tied to her restaurant business, and this time around it involves a criminal indictment attached to someone she trusted with her money. Shaq is showing up yet again for women’s basketball. Will.i.am just finished his first semester as a college professor, and before you ask, no, the subject was not music. Zoom is writing checks for solo founders who are building their businesses without a safety net (if you’re a founder of color, this is probably you), and a new study confirmed something a lot of us have suspected for a while about where the next generation gets its news. Read on for more of this week’s top stories.

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