Despite Popular Belief Shea Moisture Is Not Now Owned By Mitt Romney

There is a little meme going around that says something to the effect of “Wonder what you all gonna say when you find out Shea Moisture* is now owned by Mitt Romney?”

When I first saw the meme it did raise an eyebrow because what in the world would one of the most disliked politicians have to do with my shampoo and conditioner.

Well it wasn’t long until I figured out that Shea Moisture had entered into a partnership with Bain Capital who is now a minority owner and a non controlling investor of Sundial Brands.

Sundial brands has under it both Shea Moisture and Nubian Heritage. Most of us love Shea Moisture* and like the Carols Daughter partnership many of the women were hurt and concerned because here we have another black owned family business ‘selling out’ to white venture capitalists.

Well before you start throwing out all your good conditioner here are the facts:

Richielou Dennis still remains as the CEO and all of his family members still hold top positions in the company. Mitt Romney left Bain Capital in 2009 so he has nothing to do with the merger at all.

Finally Shea Moisture is super upfront about the deal releasing a rather long statement but giving many of us the assurance that there was no selling out.

A Letter from Our Founders (yeah, we know it’s long, but we had to share…so sit back, grab a cup o’ tea, and read on…!)

Good Afternoon, SheaFam! It’s been a day since our big announcement, so you may have heard the great news. But if not, we’re really excited to share it with you. First though, we wanted to take a moment to say thank you.

For almost 25 years, we’ve been on this journey together, starting with the support and love from the natural hair community even “back in the day” when we were selling our products on the street corners of New York City (and nobody knew what Shea Butter* or African Black Soap* was!). smile emoticon Because of your love for what we do and how we do it, our SheaMoisture and Nubian Heritage brands are now in stores all across the country and internationally. We are here because of you – and we will never take that for granted. In fact, this is about our family committing to serve your family better.

When we started in 1992, there were very few companies focused on creating natural products for natural and textured hair needs. In fact, there were very few companies that even made an effort to understand and service your needs. We went from making natural hair and skin preparations that my grandmother, Sofi Tucker, sold in our village market in Sierra Leone to making and selling those same natural hair and skin preparations on the streets of Harlem.

Over these years, we have overcome many challenges together as we’ve fought to make our products effective, affordable and accessible to you. As the natural movement has grown, many other companies, both large and small, have jumped on the bandwagon.

 

So, when we announced yesterday that we’ve brought on a minority, non-control investor in our company, we wanted to be very clear about our reasons for doing so – to be positioned to (1) most importantly, serve you better with even more innovation focused on your specific needs, (2) expand our purpose-driven Community Commerce entrepreneurship model throughout the U.S., Africa and globally, (3) have the necessary resources and infrastructure to compete against the industry giants that are now focusing on the natural texture space, (4) invest in other community-minded entrepreneurs that need access to a platform of resources and expertise, and (5) grow to become the purpose-driven global beauty company that meets your family’s needs and of which you can be proud.

Each and every day, we still strive to be better and to do better than the day before. We do it because you inspire us to keep going. We do it because your support has allowed us to be able to do this OUR way from the beginning – and that doesn’t change.

We are still an independent, family-owned and operated company – and we are still at the helm…running the business, making the decisions and focused more than ever on YOU. We wouldn’t have it any other way because there’s something really magical about what we’re building – what all of us have built – and what we’re about to do. As we now strive to be the first global family brand that puts you at the center of its purpose, we could not be more excited about the opportunities ahead. But we also remain humbled and honored to have each of you by our side. That’s how we started – and it’s why we’re still here…still doing it…our way.

Love, Luck, & Faith

Richelieu & Miss Mary (Mom)

*Richelieu Dennis is co-founder and CEO of Sundial Brands, makers of SheaMoisture and Nubian Heritage. He is Sofi Tucker’s grandson and Miss Mary’s son.
*Mary Dennis is co-founder and Treasurer of Sundial Brands, makers of SheaMoisture and Nubian Heritage. She is Sofi Tucker’s daughter and Richelieu’s mom.

Here are my thoughts on the whole thing, I understand Richelieu’s position, much like Carol’s Daughter, for you to get to the next level you need more money. More money than what the black dollar is providing.

We cannot complain when the majority of us do not buy black we do not invest in our communities as we should and for companies to get to the next level they need funding. The Beyonce’s of the world would much rather purchase beauty products from Marc Jacobs than Shea Moisture*, just a fact!

At the end of the day it’s just business and we wish them nothing but the best!