Kwame Jackson, the runner-up in the NBC reality television showThe Apprentice has never enjoyed losing as much as he did onDonald Trump’s television show. After not getting hired overthe show’s winner Bill Rancic for a $250,000 position asoverseer of a Chicago building project, Jackson has reveled in theexposure NBC’s highest-rated
show has provided for him.
In an interview with the Associated Press,Jackson says that he has been offered positions by Mark Cuban,owner of the Dallas Mavericks, as well as an endorsement deal byKFC. While the offers do sound tempting, Jackson, 30, is eager todo his own projects as well. He and longtime friend Dave Smith arecurrently trying to raise $2.5 million for a documentary on FloridaState football coach Bobby Bowden. The two men are attempting tohave the project go through Jackson’s entertainment company,Legacy Communications. Prior to being a contestant on the show,Jackson was a successful investment banker on Wall Street, and hewas certainly the most educated of the 16 contestants havingreceived his MBA from Harvard University.
Jackson made it to the final round of TheApprentice, where he and a handpicked
team had to successfully pull off a JessicaSimpson concert. While the concert did sell out, Jackson’sefforts were unimpressive to Donald Trump; partly because of theantics of Jackson’s teammate Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth,one of the six former contestants picked to come back for the finalepisode, and a PhD candidate from Howard University. On the finale,Manigault-Stallworth messes up the travel arrangements for Simpson,then proceeds to lie about her mistakes to Jackson. But when askedif there was any bitterness towards Manigualt-Stallworth, Jacksondenies it.
“I have moved on and every endorsementdeal makes me happy,” he tells the AP.
Maybe Jackson has no hard feelings towardsManigualt-Stallworth because like her, his mother was a HowardUniversity graduate, and Jackson counts her as one of his biggestinspirations. On his bio for the website for the show he talksabout her humble beginnings.
“My mother started from humblebeginnings to go and become the first person in my family to attendcollege, as a scholarship student of Howard University.”
