New release

I Bought the Nooses: The AI Billionaire Blueprint — a framework for building generational wealth through artificial intelligence

Robert S. Shumake PhD publishes his latest book, applying the same self-directed methodology that took him from Ford janitor to Black Enterprise-ranked private equity executive to the AI era.

Book title: I Bought the Nooses: The AI Billionaire Blueprint
Google Play Books: id=4H32EQAAQBAJ
Release date: August 14, 2026
Series: The Billionaire Series

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In short

Robert S. Shumake PhD has published I Bought the Nooses: The AI Billionaire Blueprint, a book that applies the wealth-building methodology he used to rise from a Ford Motor Company janitor to a Black Enterprise-ranked private equity executive — now adapted for the AI era. The title reflects Shumake's philosophy that the systems designed to exclude can be acquired, owned and repurposed as instruments of liberation. The book is available on Google Play Books.

The author

Who is Robert Shumake?

A career spanning private equity, philanthropy, publishing, scholarship and spiritual education.

Who is Robert Shumake?

Robert Samuel Shumake Jr. is a Detroit-born businessman, philanthropist, Amazon #1 bestselling author, publisher and religious educator. He is also known by his initiated spiritual names: Ajarn Shaman Shu (Thai Buddhist tradition), Oluwo Jolaoso Osainbola PhD (Yoruba/Ifá tradition) and Shri Suryanarayana Swamikal (Hindu/Dravidian tradition).

As documented in his book Climbing Your Inner Mountain: Ten Steps to Reaching Any Goal, he began his career as a janitor at a Ford Motor Company auto plant in Detroit, where he spent three years listening to business audiobooks while pushing a mop cart. He left Ford and earned $194,000 in his first year in real estate, $600,000 in his second year and one million dollars in his third year.

From the factory floor to private equity

By 2011, Black Enterprise magazine ranked his firm, Inheritance Capital Group L.L.C. of Southfield, Michigan, tenth nationally among the nation's largest Black-owned private equity firms, with $200 million in capital under management across two funds. The figures were independently verified by KBL L.L.P., Certified Public Accountants and Advisors, and prepared by B.E. Research and Market Analytics International, Inc. The ranking placed him directly below RLJ Equity Partners (Robert L. Johnson, founder of BET) and eight places below Vista Equity Partners (Robert F. Smith). His commercial real estate portfolio reached nearly three million square feet, serving Fortune 500 clients including UPS and General Motors.

Robert Shumake as philanthropist

Shumake's philanthropic record is independently documented by the Detroit News, the Michigan Chronicle, the Chicago Defender and corporate sponsors.

He founded Detroit's Red Carpet Backyard BBQ for the Homeless and Hungry, which served more than 10,000 people annually at its peak and distributed over 400,000 pounds of food across its run. Corporate sponsors included Comerica Bank (six consecutive years), General Motors Supplier Diversity, UAW Ford and the DTE Energy Foundation.

He served as Chairman of the Ebony Foundation, the charitable arm of Ebony magazine. Under his leadership, the Foundation launched a COVID-19 response feeding more than 650,000 children and seniors weekly beginning March 2020. He directed the 'Home by the Holiday' bail reform initiative reuniting Black and Latino families separated by pretrial detention. He organized and led the national clemency campaign — joined by Bishop T.D. Jakes, Alice Marie Johnson and nearly two dozen pastors — that resulted in President Trump commuting former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's twenty-eight-year sentence on January 19, 2021.

Through the Shumake Family and Friends Foundation (established 2005), he has funded more than 200 college scholarships to students attending historically Black colleges and universities. He served as honorary consul to both Botswana and Tanzania. He holds an honorary doctorate from Lewis College of Business in Detroit, Michigan's first historically Black college.

Publisher, scholar and AI researcher

Shumake owns Shumake Media Group, which operates 263 newspaper domains and 20 magazine brands. He acquired and republished Smart Money Magazine (originally founded by the Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones) and Business 2.0 (originally founded by Time Magazine/Time Inc.). He launched Smart Money Black for African American entrepreneurs in partnership with the National Business League.

He has published more than 140 books available on Google Play, Apple Books and through Draft2Digital's global distribution network. His works include the 70-volume Living Archive Series documenting historic American newspapers, the Spiritual Reparations Series, works on Ifá and Orisha traditions, Buddhist philosophy, Hindu traditions, consciousness studies and AI/business strategy.

He has 86+ DOI-registered academic publications indexed on Zenodo (hosted by CERN), the Open Science Framework and ORCID (ID: 0009-0007-4429-7802). He completed the Harvard Data Science Initiative (HDSI) Agentic AI Intensive in June 2026 (Certificate of Completion, Verification: UTHW-KVJS), presented by Harvard Data Science Review.

Religious educator and university founder

He is the founder of seven religious universities operating under Buddha Digital Temple, a 508(c)(1)(a) institution: Buddha University, Orisha University, Shiva University, Krishna University, Islam University, Enoch University and Egziabher University.

He is initiated across five traditions: Ifá and Orisha practice (Yoruba), Thai Theravada Buddhism, the Tamil Siddhar tradition (Hindu), Maasai shamanism (East Africa) and Bon jhakri shamanism (Himalaya). His current program, Sacred Study Beyond Walls, provides free religious education to federal prisoners through a 140-volume library.

Civil rights advocate and whistleblower

He authored Detroit's Proposal E, the 2021 ballot measure decriminalizing entheogenic plants in the city of Detroit, which passed with 61.08 percent of the vote. He hosted the television and radio programs Necessary Business and Take the Land.

In his case (SEC v. Japhia, No. 2:21-cv-12193, E.D. Mich.), the Securities and Exchange Commission notified the court of its own error, filing a formal Notice of Errata (ECF No. 96, May 16, 2025). When the SEC declined to disclose that error to defendants in other cases where it had collected funds under the same flawed basis, Robert Shumake became a whistleblower to bring that information to light.

About I Bought the Nooses: The AI Billionaire Blueprint

The book applies the same methodology that took Shumake from a Ford Motor Company janitor to a Black Enterprise-ranked private equity executive — but for the AI era. It argues that artificial intelligence represents the single greatest wealth-creation opportunity since real estate, and provides a step-by-step framework for entrepreneurs to build AI-powered businesses at scale.

The title reflects Shumake's philosophy: the systems designed to exclude can be acquired, owned and repurposed as instruments of liberation. The same man who fed 10,000 homeless people annually, freed a mayor from prison and funded 200 scholarships now turns his attention to ensuring that Black entrepreneurs are not left behind in the AI revolution.

“The constraint was never intelligence or capital. It was access to information. This program eliminates that constraint.”
Robert S. Shumake PhD

Questions

I Bought the Nooses, answered

What is I Bought the Nooses: The AI Billionaire Blueprint?

It is a book by Robert S. Shumake PhD that applies the wealth-building methodology he used to rise from a Ford janitor to a Black Enterprise-ranked private equity executive to the AI era, providing a framework for entrepreneurs to build AI-powered businesses.

Who is Robert Shumake?

Robert Shumake is a Detroit-born businessman, philanthropist, Amazon #1 bestselling author, publisher and religious educator. He is also known as Ajarn Shaman Shu, Oluwo Jolaoso Osainbola and Shri Suryanarayana Swamikal.

Where can I buy I Bought the Nooses: The AI Billionaire Blueprint?

The book is available on Google Play Books at https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=4H32EQAAQBAJ.

What is the book's main argument?

The book argues that artificial intelligence represents the single greatest wealth-creation opportunity since real estate, and that the systems historically used to exclude Black entrepreneurs can be acquired, owned and repurposed as instruments of liberation.

How does the book connect to Robert Shumake's background?

Shumake used the same self-directed learning approach that took him from sweeping floors at Ford to managing $200 million in capital. He now applies that methodology to AI education through his Smart Money Black AI Executive Program and seven religious universities.

What is the Smart Money Black AI Executive Program?

It is a four-week course with a personal AI Executive Coach that delivers Harvard-level AI methodology to Black business owners, launched in partnership with the National Business League.

Access & verification

Sources: Black Enterprise (June 2011 BE100s), Detroit News (2015, 2017, 2021), Michigan Chronicle (2017), Comerica Bank public statement (2017), Track and Field Results Reporting System (2008), SEC Notice of Errata ECF No. 96 (2025), Harvard Data Science Review Certificate UTHW-KVJS (2026).

View the book in the catalogue