After spending time with Chris Blackwell in Jamaica I came away with two thoughts.
First, the most remarkable people are the most difficult to define — and Chris fits that to a tee.
And second, inspiration in business and investing can come from the most unusual sources.
Blackwell may be somewhat familiar to many readers. Familiar as in: “He’s that music guy, right?”
But to my first point above, he’s so much more than that. Blackwell is the founder of Island Records, and through producing Bob Marley became, “the man most responsible for bringing reggae music to the rest of the world.”
He’s also the confidant of countless bold-faced names in the entertainment field, an entrepreneur, real estate developer (South Beach), and hotelier. And, as it turns out, Blackwell also partly helped inspire the investing framework for Dan Loeb, one of the most successful hedge fund managers on the planet.
Blackwell’s home/resort, Goldeneye, used to belong to Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond books, whom Blackwell knew as a child. When I interviewed Blackwell in 2016 I called him “the real most interesting man in the world.”
