I Asked Kevin Hart How He Made $400 Million

I'm about to interview one of the richest men in Hollywood, Kevin Hart. This is a guy who's made hundreds of millions of dollars, built companies into billions of dollars in sales, and has starred in movies that have done billions of dollars at the box office. So today, I flew out to New York City to interview Kevin and find out how he transformed himself from a comedian into one of the biggest business empires in all of entertainment. So this video is about to be insane from start to finish. Stay tuned and with that being said, let's get this video on the road. Guys, we officially made it to New York City. Very soon, we're going to be interviewing Kevin Hart on how he built a business empire outside of movies. But before we do that, look, we're in New York City right now, the richest city on earth. I'm going to be cold approaching the millionaires and billionaires that are out here to figure out how they built their wealth. And if we do that, if we succeed, then we'll go interview the man himself, Kevin Hart. So with that being said, let's go see what we can find. Excuse me, sir. I have a question for you. How old were you when you became a millionaire? Probably 34. How did you become wealthy? What line of business were you in? Oh, this is crazy. What line of business, sir? We have a channel with 26 million followers. I've interviewed 60 billionaires. Can we just, just one piece of advice to help the younger generation. I go all over the world. I travel. I'll give you a piece of advice that John Paul Getty, who was a billionaire, said when they asked him this question, he said, get to work early, work hard and inherit oil wells. Let me ask you this. I just interviewed a Lico Dangote. Do you know who that is? No. He's the richest man in Africa. He's building the largest oil refinery in the world. Were you in the oil business at all? No. So what was your primary form of- Wall Street. You were on Wall Street. What's the number one money lesson you learned that you would instill in the younger generation? My generation's struggling right now. They're paycheck to paycheck. How did you make your money work for you over all these years on Wall Street? Investments. Into what though? IRAs. Can you go beyond that though? Tax free. Tax free IRAs. Is there anything else? Are you in the tech industry, real estate? What did you like? Everything. How long were you on Wall Street? I'm still on Wall Street. For how long would you say? 60 years. Do you know Bill Ackman? I know of him. Can I show you my interview I did with him? I did an interview with Bill Ackman. No, no, that's okay. I gotta walk him. I know. I'll come in. Two quick more for you real quick. This is so helpful. I've never actually heard somebody tell me IRAs. How did you work your way up in the business world on Wall Street? But you have to be in the right place to get lucky. So what was it actually though? Dressed well. Well-mannered. Well-spoken. What did you do on Wall Street? I know. Real quick, sir. Can I have one final one then? Last one. I promise you. Let me shake your hand at least, sir. I can actually do that. That's real, bro. Come on. Wow. I thought it stayed. Come on. You see it. You see it firsthand. I got nothing but respect. 100%, bro. 100%. Are we gonna go get him? We gotta finish the interview, bro. Sir. Question for you. How old are you today? How old do you think I am? You look like you're 70. There you go. Okay. Real quick. If me and you died tomorrow and you could leave one more message right here with the younger generation to really become successful, I'll give you these last 30 seconds. How does somebody make it in the business world today? What's the secret to really becoming wealthy? It's not one size fits all. So what works for Bill Gates doesn't work for me. What was your formula though? What did you do on Wall Street that made you stand out? It's competitive in the business world. People struggle. Luck. I was lucky. You were lucky. I always said I was never the smartest guy in the room. I was always the luckiest guy in the room. You were the luckiest guy in the room. How important were relationships for your success? Did you have any great relationships or mentors that helped you out? Just my wife. Just your wife. And how important was that decision to marry the right woman? I thought that was the last question. I'm persistent. You can tell. All right. Well, you'll go far. You're persistent. I appreciate that. I mean, we have 26 million followers. I built an eight-figure business doing this right here, sir. What's the secret to your success? I'm very consistent and persistent. You're a good personality. You're a good looking guy. I build vertically integrated businesses, man. I hope to be as good looking at you as you when I'm your age though, my friend. There you go. I hope you have your hair. Well, I need it, man. I need it like you, my friend. Thank you for your time, man. I appreciate that. Guys, we're one step closer to meeting up with Kevin Hart. We just interviewed a finance mogul out here in New York City, and I could not get him to talk. He saved my life. Nonetheless, we got a couple of sound bites out of him. He said, you got to inherit some oil wells, just like the billionaire mentor told him. I don't know how easy that is, but one thing I know is for sure is we're about to go find this next millionaire or billionaire out here in New York City, you guys. Come on. Excuse me, sir. Sir, how old were you when you became a millionaire? What's that? How old were you when you made your first million? Wow. How did you get rich? What line of business are you in? I play a little basketball. What's your name? My name is Clay Thompson. Clay Thompson. Yes, sir. And how old are you now? 36. Over these 36 years, what was the most amount of money you made in a single year? I mean, that's public record. It was a good amount. Was it more than $20 million? Yeah, it was about double that. $40 million? Something like that. Can I interview you for a minute? I go all over the world interviewing billionaires to help the younger generation. Is that cool? Of course. I got you. Did you come from money growing up? I did. My father was in the same line of business. He was a basketball player as well. He was. He was actually the first foreign-born number one pick of all time, so I was very lucky to grow up with such a supportive system, and I was lucky to have such a great role model in him and my mother. You became one of the greats, and you play against some of the greatest players of all time on a regular basis. Clay, what is your self-talk like when you're out on that court? Like, what do you tell yourself when you're going up against some of the greatest players in the world? That's a great question. Always positive self-talk. For me, I'm such a basketball player, I relate everything to the hardwood. You could consistently miss shots, but if you prepare like it's your last game or you want to be great, then, like, you can live with the results. So I've been through plenty of tough times on the hardwood, and I still, when I'm out there having an off night, you just got to talk to yourself positively, and your self-talk is everything. When you were coming up, did you have people that ever doubted you? Oh yeah, all the time. I mean, I was not a highly-touted or blue-chip recruit. I went to Washington State, shout out to Cougs. Everyone's path is different. Like, you might not get the praise or adulation you get as a teenager, but it's the long game you play, you know? Do you believe in God? I do. I believe in a higher power. Who is your God? The Holy Spirit. You Christian? I grew up in the Catholic Church. I went to Catholic school, and I went to Mass growing up, and I definitely believe in a higher power, and I believe in doing right by others and treating others how you want to be treated. Two quick questions for you. 36 years old today, right? Your longevity's admirable, right? The average athlete that goes pro, they don't make it that long. There are a couple years when they fizzle in and out. What was the secret to your longevity? Oh man, I love that question, because I love basketball so much. I would play basketball in my spare time just as much as I do for an occupation. That's the secret, really. It's just a passion for the game. I love the game so much. I love going to the park. I love getting shots up. Hitting that fadeaway, San Coby, and that was my place of peace. My entire childhood and beyond was the hardwood, the playground. Even if you go down to Hudson Yards down here, they got play and pick up. It's fun just to go shoot around with players of all types of skill level. That's the secret to longevity, is really do you love it. I love this game more than anything in the world. My final question for you, Clay, if me and you died tomorrow, and you could leave one more message right here with the younger generation, what would that be? At 18 years old, if somebody came to you and told you, what's your last message, your last guiding principles to the younger generation? Oh man, that's a lot of pressure. Last question. Give me one. I know you deal with a lot of pressure. Come on, let's go. I would say, think of the big picture. Sometimes we all get bogged down and discouraged and can be short-sighted. I was that guy. I would get very discouraged at times. I would really doubt myself and I would go through a shooting slump or I would go through an injury. There's always a higher purpose for why you're going through those times. Tough times don't last, but tough people do. Can I tell you something? Yeah. You got amazing advice, my friend. I appreciate that. Thank you for your time. I really appreciate that. I connect with all the millionaires and billionaires that I interview. Could I get your contact? Yeah, man. Keep getting his contact. I got you. Guys, we're literally about to interview one of the richest men in Hollywood out here in New York City at the Netflix headquarters. But before we do that, I want to point out something that I've learned from interviewing the richest people in the world. Understand this. To become an incredible entrepreneur, you have to master hiring the right people because your business can only grow as fast as the people you put around you. And at my company, I have people trying to get my attention all the time, coming up to me at events or in the streets, emailing me and sending me creative pitches, doing whatever they can to stand out. And when you're hiring, it's always helpful to know who actually wants the job. But you don't need unusual stunts. You just need ZipRecruiter. Here's why. 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Once again, that's ZipRecruiter.com slash Hard Knocks. Meet your match on ZipRecruiter. With that being said, it's time to go interview Kevin Hart. Guys, we're right now on our way to the Netflix headquarters to meet up with and interview the legend, Kevin Hart, to figure out how he built an empire into the billions. He's got one company that's valued at $650 million, and you can see it right here. Nonetheless, this is about to be a crazy interview. It's time to go interview the legendary Kevin Hart. Hello. How's it going, guys? Hi, everybody. Hi. I'm Josh. This can go right on back there. Nice to meet you. Good to meet you, man. Nice to meet you, bro. Good to see you. Hey, careful. When I saw him, I said, that's for Kevin. How you doing, Kevin? Yeah, how you doing? Great to meet you. All right. I'm ready. How you doing, my man? I'm good. It's great to see you. We'll have you right here, my friend. When you're ready. You good to go? We're good. Good to go? Yep. Who am I here with today? You are here with Kevin Hart today. For those that don't know, how did you make your millions? Stand-up comedy, of course, is my entry. You take stand-up comedy away, I don't have anything. That was my door. And then realizing what stand-up comedy could actually present, well, that was another layer of opportunity. So stand-up comedy led to the gateway of true entrepreneurship, true real entertainment, production, producing, developing, owning. It all started through the portal of stand-up comedy. A lot of people see the success now, but Kevin, did you come from money growing up? Did you come from a lot of money? Absolutely not. And I wouldn't have it any other way. I think because of my upbringing, because of my mom, my dad, and us not having much, you know, we were kind of forced to figure things out. You left Philadelphia and you went out to Los Angeles. How important was the decision to leave your hometown? I mean, I had to, and not because my hometown is a bad place. I love Philadelphia. I'm a product of Philadelphia, born and raised. But the opportunities I was looking for were outside of Philadelphia, and those opportunities were in New York. Those opportunities were then in Los Angeles. So sometimes you got to be uncomfortable to get comfortable. And I said, f*** it. I moved to Los Angeles, so I had no choice but to kind of solve the puzzle. One of my favorite stories that you tell was when you were talking about when you first saw Jeff Bezos. You were at some event with him, and you were like, you know, I'm going to go talk to Jeff Bezos. That's an opportunity I may never get back. Yeah. But you had people around you that were saying, nah, Kevin, don't do that. Don't be that guy. But how important was it for you to not be afraid to take that risk, to take that chance to go up and have that conversation? I mean, it's extremely important. I think relationships are key in anything that you do. Face association is key. If you have an opportunity to present yourself and be professional, respectful, but at the same time hungry, you take advantage of that regardless of who it is. I was in an environment, very intimate setting, and Jeff Bezos was there. And I was like, I'm in the same room as f*** Jeff Bezos. This is dope as s***. I'm going to go over there and say what up to Jeff. I'm a cool guy. Why can't I go give Jeff a handshake and throw a couple of questions at him? Why not? Oh, Kev, he's over there. Leave him alone. He's just over there chilling. I'm over there chilling too. I'm good energy and I'm never anything opposite than that. But I'm also not afraid to simply introduce myself. I'm not afraid to ask the questions that so many people are. I'm also not afraid to be the dummy in the room. So the s*** that I don't know, I will only know if I ask those that do. Hey man, I'm curious about this. How did you? Well, then what happened? What happened after that? I wish he could say his name. Or you can say, oh man, not now, we can find a better time. Whatever it is, cool. But I don't like not taking advantage of a possible moment that I may not have again. And you're business partners with billionaires now. I'm good friends with Jamie Salter, right? Michael Rubin. He talks about a lot. You cannot be afraid to ask for help. He said that in my interview with him. When you think about the most successful people you know, Kevin, what do the richest people in the world all have in common? I'll tell you the one thing that they all have in common. There's a train that they're all not afraid to hop on together. To make real money, you need the partnerships, the association with people who have done it before and that continue to do it. So it's not about breaking a new concept, creating a new model. Nobody's starting over all the time. What they're doing is tapping into each other's resources. Because if I can go and I can service you and you can service me, well one plus one for both of us can sometimes equal 30. We don't need it to equal two. It can equal 30 because of what you've built. Chop that pie up. Billionaires, multi-millionaires are not afraid to do business with others that do smart business. I can say my biggest lessons in business have been not to try to own 100% of nothing. Everybody wants to own 100% of nothing. If you have something that you built and it's 100% yours but it's worth nothing, that's exactly what it is. You can put a valuation on whatever you want. Until somebody comes and acquires it, it's nothing. It has no value. It's hypothetical. So without the value of others to make your value better, you'll find yourself in a space of zero. Kevin, I'm going to challenge you. Take me back to the most life-changing conversation you ever had. What's the greatest piece of advice you've received throughout your career? Greatest piece of advice I've ever received? Chris Rock. Early on in my career, I was so focused in not just being funny, man, but being funny for the culture, being funny for one specific group of people. And what Chris explained to me, man, he said, the world is big, Kevin, and if you can find a way to be appealing to the world, to the masses, if you can find a way to make everyone feel good, everyone laugh, your career gets bigger and comedy gets better. You got to get out of the States. You got to travel the world. Oh, global. You got to travel the world. You got to understand how wide the variety of people and personnel is. And when you do that, you'll find that your job gets easier if you approach it correctly. So the reason why I started being very aggressive about traveling internationally was because of Chris Rock. The reason why I started pushing studios to allow me to promote my movies internationally was because of Chris Rock. I wanted to become a global asset, a global entity, a global brand, and because of that, things compounded. But Kevin, you became famous. A lot of people become famous. They get millions of followers. How many followers do you have? Across all platforms, probably somewhere in the 250 to 275 million range, maybe. A million people. Yeah, it's a lot of people. But what's the secret to turning attention into actual revenue? A lot of people, they can master attention, but you and I both know there's creators, entertainers, artists that go broke. What's the secret to turning that attention into generational wealth? What's important is understanding how to take your likeness and put your likeness in a position through your likeness creates value for you. That likeness can come through relationships. That likeness can come through brand partnerships, association. Your brand gets bigger through association and attachment too. If you look at Michael Jordan, Michael Jordan was the biggest definition of a athlete turned into a brand ambassador, partner, face for the world to recognize. Through what? Through McDonald's, through Gatorade, through Nike that then turned into Jordan. If you really look at the things that expanded the brand of Michael Jordan, how big was McDonald's? How big was Gatorade at that time? How big was Hanes at that time? If you really look at the things that showed Michael Jordan in a different manner, before he did Space Jam the movie, before the sneaker commercial started coming out and banging, it was the brand partners outside the game. That made his face in the game that much bigger. So now today, when you go on Qatar Airways and you're looking at a commercial of Kevin Hart giving a TSA of safety, you don't realize how big that is. There's 50 million people that are taking this airline and traveling back and forth worldwide to FIFA, to et cetera, and Kevin Hart's face is doing what? Telling you how to be safe from a place of humor. Oh my God, that's right, Kevin's funny. Oh wow, let me go watch his special. Oh, that's right, he has X, Y, and Z. DraftKings. It all ties in. That was a master class right there. I just gave it. I just gave you all a circle. Throughout your career, what was the most amount of money you made in a single year? I can't say that. Could I guess? I'd be knocked in the goddamn head. You gotta remember, I'm still black. I go back home every once in a while. Could I guess? Was it more than $20 million? Yeah, yeah. More than $30 million? Yeah. We've had some great years. More than $50 million? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you made $100 million in a year. Yeah, we've had great times. What is the greatest piece of financial advice you'd give to the younger generation right here? I can tell you the biggest piece of financial advice is that you don't understand finances until you **** up and have a better version of respect for it. You gotta take L's as well. Everybody has the best money advice in the world, but I'm just gonna keep it 100. Making the money one time, easy. Keeping the money after you made it, hard. Making it again, harder. Finding partners that could do the same ----, almost impossible. I came from a fit to even area. I went to community college for two weeks. Banking wasn't a thing that was discussed in my household. You know, when you talk about what you should do and what you're supposed to buy, how you're supposed to save, how you're supposed to invest. I didn't get all this ---- until I'm in my 30s. So like, it's not until you go, huh? Pay what? Oh, who? That you start to go and take a step back and you look at money differently. So I would say to the younger generation that is now making money, security and protecting yourself so that you are never without, it should be a priority. But getting out of the hole is what made me respect the hole. I respect the hole so much more now. I respect finance. I respect investing. I respect making your money make money for you. So I'm smarter at the age 47. You look at me, go back to 35, 36, man. It was not the same. Kevin, 47 years old today, if me and you died tomorrow and you could leave one last message with the younger generation, what would that be? What you're doing as a generation and breaking new ground to create revenue, the resources provided for you, portals that are given to you. Yeah, you don't own them. There are resources through platforms that are created, but you're building crazy revenue. You're taking advantage of these free resources in a way like I've never seen. I'm trying to keep up with what you're doing to the streaming community, to the influencers, to the content creators, to the entrepreneurs, to those that are finding ways to go out, have concepts, create this crazy world of presentation to get investors to come in, buy in, and then you reach your market through a avenue that you control. You have no idea how entities today are flustered because they can't match what you're doing. They can't mirror or match the fact that you're building these things on your own. People are live streaming daily and some of you guys got 300,000 to 400,000 people watching you at a time. You're doing what used to be TV numbers. You're doing millions of people at a time. When I was doing the live streams with Kai Andrewski, we had almost 900,000 people watching a live stream for eight hours. You're doing Super Bowl-like numbers. And I would say to you guys, do not miss your opportunity to stack this train up so that you got eight f***ing cars full of what it should be. Brands are trying to figure out how to reach these people. Brands are trying to figure out how to gather more engagement through eyeballs that are real. You guys control it. You guys have it. It's dope as s*** to see. So as a fan watching, I'm just telling you, don't miss your moment. Can I tell you something? You have amazing advice, my friend. Hey, man. I appreciate you. Thank you for your time, man. I've been to meet 60 billionaires. I connect with all the millionaires and billionaires I interview. Can I get your contact? Absolutely, man. It's a great f***ing interview. And it's real. Here. I'm giving you my personal set. Guys, that's a wrap on today's video. I need you guys to stop right now, like, and subscribe for amazing content coming every week to the School of Hard Knocks. We just interviewed the mogul Kevin Hart, but I don't want to stop there. I want to give you direct access to the eight, nine, and ten-figure entrepreneurs, the millionaires and billionaires that I interview on this channel. Go down, click the link in the description to join the School of Mentors today. I can't wait to see you on the inside. With that being said, we'll see you in the next interview.