Megan Thee Stallion, AKA Megan Thee Mogul, Closes Forbes Summit, Highlights Importance of Building Generational Wealth

The Grammy award-winning rapper spoke all things entrepreneurship at Forbes Under 30 Summit.

Megan Thee Stallion performs onstage during the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena on n Las Vegas, Nevada. 


When Megan Thee Stallion isn't performing at the Grammys or releasing No. 1 hits like "Savage" and "WAP," she's busy launching a mental health resource website or running Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen franchises.

The rapper, whose legal name is Megan Pete, spoke to more than 2,500 young professionals and entrepreneurs at the Forbes Under 30 Summit's closing keynote on Tuesday, and may now be known as Megan Thee Mogul.

The multihyphenate is seeing continued success across multiple business ventures. “Creating your own legacy and creating your own wealth is super important to me as a Black woman because… originally we didn’t have a lot of opportunities,” she explains. “For me to be in this position today and be able to create generational wealth… I want to go extra hard for [my future family].”

In every venture she takes part in, the artist is incredibly hands-on. Pete, a Houston native, asked herself how she could get in the food space with the goal of making it better for people like her young self.

“Popeyes is around the corner from anybody who lives in a low-income area. I’ve been eating this all my life,” she said. “These areas are food deserts, like we don’t really have a lot of options of vegetables or food besides these fast-food restaurants.”

Megan Thee Stallion received her Bachelor’s degree in Health Administration from Texas Southern in December 2021. Though she was already a world famous rapper before graduation, she knew she wanted to finish school at some point.

"I didn’t treat rap like it was a plan B and I didn’t treat school like it was a plan B," she said at the summit, held in downtown Detroit. "I got two plan A’s. I knew I could do both. I can get my degree and I can be Megan Thee Stallion too."

She knows she won’t be a rapper forever and really values learning. She hopes to someday pass on the knowledge she has accrued to someone else. “When you just let people give you things, you don’t get to learn,” she explained. “Me actually being in every field that i’m in, not just rap—when I take on a new project I’m very hands on. I feel like now I’m learning and I have knowledge.”

The entrepreneur is also in business partnerships with Nike, Revlon, Flamin' Hot Cheetos and CashApp. In December 2021 she signed a production deal with Netflix and added to her already stacked resume which includes acting (Good Girls) and celebrity judge (HBO's Legendary)


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Ananya Panchal
ANANYA PANCHAL

Ananya Panchal is a writer on the Lifestyle and Trending News team for SI Swimsuit, where she covers fashion, beauty, pop culture and the internet’s favorite personalities and trends. She joined the brand in 2022 after roles at Bustle, the San Francisco Chronicle and the TODAY Show. Panchal loves to write about fashion in all its forms—from standout runway moments and evolving street style to the best accessories to elevate each season’s wardrobe (she rarely goes anywhere without a stack of jewelry and a coffee in hand). A self-proclaimed beauty fanatic, she’s always on the hunt for must-have products and loves breaking down viral trends. Her favorite series at the moment is spotlighting female founders and the stories behind the brands they’ve built—especially those shaping the future of fashion, wellness and tech. She is based between New York City and San Francisco and, when she’s not writing, can be found rewatching One Tree Hill, playing sudoku, trying new restaurants or ranking her favorite Disney Channel Original Movies. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and journalism with a minor in criminal justice from Boston University.