With each new year comes a new set of goals and aspirations for both our professional and personal lives. For careers, these goals may include a new job, a pay raise, a better relationship with a boss, or simply an expanded network of like-minded professionals to charge your creative juices.
For the past year, we’ve seen the careers of several industry leaders play out in front of media headlines. From lucrative business deals, to controversial partnerships and million dollar endorsements, check out our list of the top 14 most talked about career moves of 2014.
LeBron James
After much speculation, King James made headline news this year when he returned to his home team of the Cleveland Cavaliers. With star players such as Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love by his side, only time will tell if the NBA superstar will be able to bring a championship ring back home.
Dr. Dre
The year 2014 was definitely the year of Dr. Dre as the hip-hop mogul sold his company, Beats Electronics, to Apple for a whopping $3 billion. The lucrative deal quickly put Dr. Dre at the top of the Forbes list and made him the highest paid hip-hop cash king of 2014.
Mo’Ne Davis
Davis made headline news earlier this year when she helped her baseball team get to the Little League World Series and became the youngest person to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated. At just 13-years-old, the sports superstar has also been named as one of Time’s “25 Most Influential Teens of 2014” and landed a book deal with Harper Collins about her life and career journey.
Tamron Hall
The beautiful Tamron Hall has been gracing our television screens for years now as a national correspondent for NBC News and this year she made history as the first black woman to co-anchor the Today show.
Admiral Michelle Howard
Earlier this year, the Navy announced its promotion of Michelle Howard from vice admiral to admiral, making her the first African American to hold this esteemed position.
Attorney General Eric Holder
In September, Attorney General Eric Holder made the announcement that he will be stepping down from his position, after nearly six years of serving on President Obama’s cabinet.
Pamela El
This year, the National Basketball Association announced Pamela El as the league’s new chief marketing officer.
Beyoncé
With chart-topping albums, singles and lucrative tours that rake in millions, it’s no surprise that Queen Bey is amongst the list of musical geniuses who are continuously nominated for a Grammy. As nominees for the 57th Annual Grammy awards rolled in this year, Mrs. Carter made history as the most-nominated female artist ever, having a total of 47 nominations to her name.
Lisa Price
In October, L’Oreal USA announced they had reached an agreement with CEO Lisa Price to acquire natural hair care line, Carol’s Daughter. While the new business deal sparked debate between Carol’s Daughter supporters, Price expressed her excitement for the new partnership and said that L’Oreal has an “understanding of the future of multi-cultural beauty.”
Kevin Durant
This year, Kevin Durant proved to not only be a force to reckon with on the court, but the 26-year-old also proved to be a cash king in endorsement deals.
As a member of Roc Nation Sports, Durant has inked a Nike endorsement deal worth $300 million over the next 10 years, signed an endorsement deal with the beverage brand Sparkling Ice and signed on to be the first-ever athlete ambassador for fast food chain Sonic.
Ava DuVernay
As the director of one of this year’s most highly anticipated films, Selma, 42-year-old Ava DuVernay made career history as the first black female director to be nominated for a Golden Globe.
Keke Palmer
Keke Palmer may be just 21-years-old, but the young actress, singer, and television host is proving that she can hold her own with industry greats.
This year, Palmer debuted her talk show, Just Keke, on BET, making her the youngest talk show host ever in television history. And as if that wasn’t enough, the young starlet also made her Broadway debut as the first African American actress to play Cinderella on the big stage.
Alia Atkinson
This year, 25-year-old Atkinson made career history as the first black woman to win a FINA World Swimming Championship, and she also set a world record by completing the short course race (25m) in 1 minute and 2.36 seconds.
Lupita Nyong’o
Lupita is continuing to prove that her reign as the “It Girl” of Hollywood won’t be letting up anytime soon.
Aside from inking a deal with Lancôme as their first black spokesperson, the Oscar-winning actress has joined the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII and is set to co-star in the indie drama Americanah, alongside David Oyelowo.