Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s 49th birthday was three days ago, but he’s still in a celebratory mood.
If there was any question as “Fiddy” nears 50 whether he’s still at the top of his game, the answer arrives with him at the photo shoot for this story: The rapper turned mogul brings $3.5 million in cold hard cash, most of it stuffed into two heavy black suitcases.
Some is assembled into a square stool that he sits on while smoking a cigar.
Every now and then, as he poses for photos, he digs into the stash and adds a few more stacks to the table beside him — as those on set watch in awe, including the four security guards Jackson arrived with.
The doors are locked shut, and the window shades are closed for maximum privacy.
Asked whether he had to visit the bank to get the funds, Jackson says with a relaxed smile: “I just had that.
I got more than that,” then adds that “I was inspired [to bring it] by [Muhammad] Ali,” referring to the 1964 Sports Illustrated cover for which the then-22-year-old boxer posed with $1 million in winnings.
“I was like, ‘I want to do a shoot like that.’”
Suffice it to say, business is good for Jackson. Power, the Courtney Kemp-created series he executive produced, launched a run of hits for Starz after its 2014 debut, going six seasons and leading to multiple spinoffs, including Ghost and Raising Kanan (each renewed for its own fourth season) and Force (renewed for a third).
His other series for Starz, BMF, recently wrapped its third season and, mirroring the Power franchise, is expanding into its own universe.
Starz — which says Power programs and BMF average about 10 million multiplatform viewers per episode — relies on Jackson for unrelated series as well.
His company is producing upcoming shows like boxing drama Fightland and Queen Nzinga, about an African warrior queen.
