A rags-to-riches story, Monique Idlett-Mosley has set an example for the path one could not imagine to have taken towards success. While most have a vision for the future in one industry, she's taken it to a whole new level, jumping from marketing to entertainment and then to the tech industry. And wait for it, she's now working in front of the camera rather than being just behind the scenes.
The industry word for how she swerves her profession is called 'Pivoting', and she insists it's the most important factor for her success. But Idlett-Mosley is perhaps best known as the wife of music producer Tim 'Timbaland' Mosley, who she filed for divorce twice. Behind the scenes, she was an integral part of his success in the music industry.
Timbaland and Monique Idlett-Mosley were together for the better of 10 years.
Photo Credit: Kris Connor, Getty Images
This year though, the 46-year-old (b. April 30, 1974) is making headlines for a different reason — the race to be a billionaire. She is currently part of three contestants on Discovery's reality series, Undercover Billionaires, alongside real estate developer & founder of House of Rock, Elaine Culotti, and a motivational speaker, real estate investor, author & Entrepreneur contributor, Grant Cardone.
Monique Idlett-Mosley Is Racing to Obtain a Billionaire Net Worth
Despite what the title suggests, Discovery's show is not about billionaires, but rather a challenge they are presented with to become one. Monique Idlett-Mosley is not a billionaire yet, and like she, the other two contestants do not have a net worth of over $1 billion either.
The Undercover Billionaire challenge for Idlett-Mosley isn't just limited to obtaining a net worth of $1 billion, but doing it with just $100, a cellphone and a car in the city of Tacoma, Washington as Monique Lemai in 90 days.
She is going undercover to make a billion bucks.
Photo Source: Undercover Billionaire, Discovery Channel
The current numbers, however, make her a millionaire. Idlett-Mosley controls a net worth of $200 million in 2021, as multiple sources estimate. And her major, or rather, the current line of business is in venture capital with a $25 million fund of her own, Reign Ventures Capital. She started it in 2017 and invests at the Seed and Series A Stage in tech-related startups, focusing on women and minority-led ones.
How Idlett-Mosley Made Her Money: She Got a Job at 22 One Couldn't Imagine Getting Even at 40
The now-philanthropist had to begin somewhere to earn money to be doing what she is doing at the moment. And that was at USA Today in the mid-1990s, where she convinced a VP to get her the position of an advertising executive. The impressive thing about it was that it was the 90's, certainly not easy for colored women to get such a job, and it was a senior-level sales position that required 20 years of experience.
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At the time, she was 22, a senior in college and a single mother with a three-year-old son, Frankie Idlett, thus breaking all kinds of records. It was also around the time her father passed away, and she had to take care of her two siblings in their pre-teens. She doesn't talk of the early days of her life, but it's clear she went through some difficult things in her life.
The Entry into Entertainment & Entrepreneurship: From High-Profile Clients to Being a CEO of Her Own
Monique Idlett-Mosley worked at USA Today for seven years, and as one can imagine, she was exemplary. At the same time, she started her own marketing agency within the USA Today offices, before venturing out on her own in the early 2000s.
Through her agency, she was developing sales, marketing and public relations strategies for clients like Kanye West, Verizon, Burrell Communications, T.I. and Timbaland before 2004. The experience came from developing nationwide strategic sales plans for Ford, Lincoln, Home Depot, ING, Motorola, Minute Maid, etc. as the senior sales executive at USA Today.
Timbaland's net worth is placed over $85 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Photo Credit: Johnny Nunez, WireImage
Idlett-Mosley worked with Timbaland before they became a couple and then husband-wife in 2008. In 2006, they became partners in launching his brand and record label. She served as the CEO of both Mosley Brands and Mosley Music Group (MMG) for over 14 years, managing musicians like OneRepublic, Nelly Furtado, and Chris Cornell. 64 platinum and 22 gold RIAA certifications speak for themselves.
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With the rise of online music platforms, she had to adapt to the ways and extend her line of work away from music as well. In 2014, she served as an executive music producer and fashion consultant for FOX's hit Empire. She was getting a master's degree (MBA) at the time, having joined George Washington University in 2012.
It was at that University that she met Erica Duignan Minnihan, who introduced her to angel investing and would later become an important part in pivoting her career from entertainment. And the same year she joined Empire, she started serving for The Boys & Girls Clubs of America as a National Trustee.
She's a well-established philanthropist as well.
Photo Credit: Gustavo Caballero, Getty Images for GREY GOOSE
Also note that she filed for divorce from Timbaland in 2013 before reconciling and then officially separating in October 2015. She filed for divorce the second time earlier that year. The rapper's infidelity was the supposed reason for the split. Together, they had one daughter Reign Mosley in 2007. You get why her next venture is named the way it is.
Philanthropy and More Entertainment Ventures
With the introduction of angel investing, Idlett-Mosley had a big revelation as a founder. She and Minnihan made a mission of finding women and founders of color to support. They went with it for years and realized the gravity of the situation. It was a huge pivot in her career indeed.
"We did this for years to prove the thesis; there are exceptional founders being left out of investment opportunities," she told Forbes in 2019. "It was during this process it became very obvious why there is not enough diversity and inclusion in investing."
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With a goal to represent the underrepresented, the two became business partners and founded Reign Ventures in 2017 with a $25 million fund of her own. The tech industry here comes with the startups her venture invests in. They funded the multi-ethnic startups like Buzztable, Zeel, and Villageluxe.
In addition, she is the founder and executive director of Always Believing Foundation, and on the Board of Directors for The Miami Bridge, a Miami-based emergency relief non-profit. She previously served on the board of the Ryan Cameron Foundation and was a UN Foundation Representative as part of the first‐ever mPowering Mobile movement. She was also appointed as a surrogate in Gucci’s CHIME FOR CHANGE campaign.
They've also discussed Monique's relationship with Timbaland on the show.
Photo Source: Chatter, Releve’ Entertainment
And these days, besides from Undercover Billionaire Season 2, she's hit the spotlight with her real-life girlfriends in the talk show Chatter on FOX Soul in April 2020, discussing real-life personal & career problems. She's also helped build United Freedom to fight systemic and racial injustice. Snoop Dogg is on board as well, literally.
Monique Idlett-Mosley is working closely with Beyoncé and Salma Hayek to empower women around the world, and taking up the challenge on Undercover Billionaire might just show them, regardless of the result.
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