Russell Simmons Says 'Super Rich' Isn't About Making Money, But Other Kinds of Wealth
Imus wondered how Russell Simmons, a mogul many times over and the author of Super Rich: A Guide to Having it All, would reply if asked by somebody on a plane what he does for a living. As if Simmons, who founded Def Jam Records with Rick Rubin in 1984 and is worth more than $300 million, flies commercial.
“Depends on what they look like,” Simmons joked. “I’m an investor in many ventures, philanthropic and social, semi-political action. I’m an animal activist. I’m a gay rights activist.”
As part of his animal activism, Simmons, like Imus, is a vegan, and both men believe in karmic retribution. “The anxiety and pain is fed to you,” Simmons said of the animals raised, tortured, and eventually slaughtered on factory farms. On behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Simmons has negotiated with big corporations to change their practices. “I’m not an angry vegan,” Simmons added. “I’m just a person who doesn’t eat animal products.”
Before he became an empire, Simmons was a drug dealer, selling, among other things, cocaine laced with incense. He left that life behind when he started producing music. “The melody was in my head,” he said. “The most beautiful experience was making a record, and the thought process, if any, was, ‘I can’t wait ‘til my friends hear it.’ And at the time, I didn’t realize that that kind of experience could be duplicated in all your efforts.”
Super Rich is Simmons’s way of letting not just his friends, but people everywhere learn how to attain “a space where you’re focused, where you become a better contributor, a better giver,” as he has, through practicing yoga. Such piece of mind has written what he calls the “pretty fun story” of his life.
“From the comedians, and poets, and musicians, and fashion, the films I’ve produced, all the social and political causes I’ve championed or worked with—it was the melody, that same thing,” he said.
Simmons is on a quest to help people move their consciousness “to where you can be a better servant,” calling it “a natural evolution,” but one he thinks Super Rich will speed up. “I want people to look inside for the strength,” he said. “And not be sheep, moved around like cattle.”
But the level of success achieved by people like Simmons, and by his pals Donald Trump and Oprah Winfrey, might seem outright unattainable to “regular people,” Imus noted. “We all want to be what you guys are.”
Super Rich, though, is not a guide to financial wealth, but a map for personal fulfillment. “The book is about looking inside and finding strength, and looking inside for the one thing that everybody is seeking,” Simmons said. “Happiness.”
He called it “a how-to book,” and insisted following its principles will not only make people happier, but will result in them becoming more generous. “Good givers will result in great getters,” he added.
As with his last book, Do You!, Simmons will give the proceeds of Super Rich to charity, because, as he readily admitted, “I got enough money.”
-Julie Kanfer
