- Source of Wealth: Music, Fashion, Other Business
- Age: 62
- Birth Place: Queens, New York, United States
- Height: 5’9” (1.79 m)
- Weight: 189 lbs (86 kg)
- Marital Status: Divorced (Kimora Lee)
- Full Name: Russell Wendell Simmons
- Nationality: American
- Date of Birth: October 4, 1957
- Ethnicity: African American
- Occupation: Businessman (Co-founder of Def Jam, Founder of Phat Farm)
- Education: City College of New York
- Children: 2 (Ming and Aoki)
Russell Wendell Simmons is an American business magnate with an estimated net worth of $340 million. People know him as the most influential businessman in the history of rap music. As co-founder of the Def Jam label, Simmons’ street-friendly taste and marketing savvy helped bring hip-hop crashing into the mainstream of American culture and mass media. Russell Simmons was there before Jay Z, Diddy and Dre and he is the original hip-hop mogul. The former New York street hustler turned promoter, label owner, artist manager and record producer added business magnate and self-help guru to his resume. He had a diverse portfolio of interests and amassed a fortune of more than $300 million. He was able to change the face of hip hop many times over at Def Jam, the label he co-founded with the producer Rick Rubin. Simmons is one of the hip-hop world’s wealthiest entrepreneurs. The man has a variety of interests. Since then, Russell Simmons shifted his focus from records to political commentary and other literary pursuits. Nowadays, he regularly contributes to the Huffington Post and is also editor-in-chief of GlobalGrind.com, a website that creates reviews in the world of hip-hop.