Swiss franc
Schweizer Franken (German) franc suisse (French) franco svizzero (Italian) franc svizzer (Romansh)
Banknotes Coins
ISO 4217 code	CHF
Central bank	Swiss National Bank
Website	www.snb.ch
Official user(s)	Switzerland Liechtenstein Campione d'Italia (Italy)[2]
Unofficial user(s)	Büsingen am Hochrhein (Germany)[1]
Inflation	0.2% (2011)
Source	(de) Statistik Schweiz
Pegged with	euro= at least 1.20 francs
Subunit
1/100	Rappen (German) centime (French) centesimo (Italian) rap (Romansh)
Symbol	CHF, SFr. (old)
Nickname	Stutz (1 CHF coin), 2-Fränkler (2 CHF coin), 5-Liiber (5 CHF coin) (Swiss German), balle(s) (≥1 CHF) thune (=5 CHF) (French)
Plural	Franken (German) francs (French) franchi (Italian) francs (Romansh)
Rappen (German) centime (French) centesimo (Italian) rap (Romansh)	Rappen (German) centimes (French) centesimi (Italian) raps (Romansh)
Coins	5, 10 & 20 rappen, ½, 1, 2 & 5 francs
Banknotes	10, 20, 50, 100, 200 & 1,000 francs
Printer	Orell Füssli Arts Graphiques SA (Zürich)
Mint	Swissmint
Website	www.swissmint.ch

The franc (sign: Fr. or SFr.; German: Franken, French and Romansh: franc, Italian: franco; code: CHF) is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; it is also legal tender in the Italian exclave Campione d'Italia. Although not formally legal tender in the German exclave Büsingen (the sole legal currency is the euro), it is in wide daily use there. The Swiss National Bank issues banknotes and the federal mint Swissmint issues coins.

The Swiss franc is the only version of the franc still issued in Europe. The smaller denomination, a hundredth of a franc, is a Rappen (Rp.) in German, centime (c.) in French, centesimo (ct.) in Italian, and rap (rp.) in Romansh. The ISO code of the currency used by banks and financial institutions is CHF, although "Fr." is used by most businesses and advertisers; some use SFr.; the Latinate "CH" stands for Confoederatio Helvetica.

Given the quadrilingual populace, Latin is used for language-neutral inscriptions on the coins.

History[link]

Before the Helvetic Republic[link]

Before 1798, about 75 entities were making coins in Switzerland, including the 25 cantons and half-cantons, 16 cities, and abbeys, resulting in about 860 different coins in circulation, with different values, denominations and monetary systems.^[3]

The local Swiss currencies included the Basel thaler, Berne thaler, Fribourg gulden, Geneva thaler, Geneva genevoise, Luzern gulden, Neuchâtel gulden, St. Gallen thaler, Schwyz gulden, Solothurn thaler, Valais thaler and the Zürich thaler.

Franc of the Helvetic Republic, 1798–1803[link]

In 1798, the Helvetic Republic introduced a currency based on the Berne thaler, subdivided into 10 batzen or 100 rappen. The Swiss franc was equal to 6¾ grams pure silver or 1½ French francs.^[4]

This franc was issued until the end of the Helvetic Republic in 1803, but served as the model for the currencies of several cantons in the re-formed Swiss Confederacy. For these cantonal currencies, see Aargau frank, Appenzell frank, Basel frank, Berne frank, Fribourg frank, Geneva franc, Glarus frank, Graubünden frank, Luzern frank, St. Gallen frank, Schaffhausen frank, Schwyz frank, Solothurn frank, Thurgau frank, Ticino franco, Unterwalden frank, Uri frank, Vaud franc and Zürich frank.

Franc of the Swiss confederation, 1850–[link]

Although 22 cantons and half-cantons issued coins between 1803 and 1850, less than 15% of the money in circulation in Switzerland in 1850 was locally produced, with the rest being foreign, mainly brought back by mercenaries. In addition, some private banks also started issuing the first banknotes, so that in total, at least 8000 different coins and notes were in circulation at that time, making the monetary system extremely complicated.^[5][6]

In order to solve this problem, the new Swiss Federal Constitution of 1848 specified that the Federal Government would be the only entity allowed to make money in Switzerland. This was followed two years later by the first Federal Coinage Act, passed by the Federal Assembly on 7 May 1850, which introduced the franc as the monetary unit of Switzerland. The franc was introduced at par with the French franc. It replaced the different currencies of the Swiss cantons, some of which had been using a franc (divided into 10 batzen and 100 rappen) which was worth 1½ French francs.

In 1865, France, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland formed the Latin Monetary Union, wherein they agreed to value their national currencies to a standard of 4.5 grams of silver or 0.290322 grams of gold. Even after the monetary union faded away in the 1920s and officially ended in 1927, the Swiss franc remained on that standard until 1936, when it suffered its sole devaluation, on 27 September during the Great Depression. The currency was devalued by 30% following the devaluations of the British pound, U.S. dollar and French franc.^[7] In 1945, Switzerland joined the Bretton Woods system and pegged the franc to the U.S. dollar at a rate of $1 = 4.30521 francs (equivalent to 1 franc = 0.206418 grams of gold). This was changed to $1 = 4.375 francs (1 franc = 0.203125 grams of gold) in 1949.

Between mid-2003 and mid-2006, the franc's exchange rate with the euro was stable at a value of about 1.55 CHF per euro, so that the Swiss franc rose and fell in tandem with the euro against the U.S. dollar and other currencies. In March 2008 the Swiss franc traded above one U.S. dollar for the first time.

The Swiss franc has historically been considered a safe-haven currency with virtually zero inflation and a legal requirement that a minimum of 40% be backed by gold reserves.^[8] However, this link to gold, which dates from the 1920s, was terminated on 1 May 2000 following a referendum.^[9] By March 2005, following a gold selling program, the Swiss National Bank held 1,290 tonnes of gold in reserves which equated to 20% of its assets.^[10]

2011 appreciation[link]

In March 2011 the franc climbed past the US$1.10 mark (CHF 0.91 per U.S. dollar). In June 2011 the franc climbed past US$1.20 (CHF 0.833 per U.S. dollar) as investors sought safety amidst the continuation of the Greek sovereign-debt crisis.^[11] Continuation of the same crisis in Europe and the debt crisis in the U.S. propelled the Swiss franc past US$1.30 (CHF 0.769 per U.S. dollar) as of August 2011, prompting the Swiss National Bank to boost the franc's liquidity in an attempt to counter its "massive overvaluation".^[12] The Economist argued that its Big Mac Index in July 2011 indicated an overvaluation of 98% over the dollar and cited Swiss companies releasing profit warnings and threatening to move operations out of the country due to the strength of the franc.^[13] Demand for francs and franc-denominated assets was so strong that nominal short-term Swiss interest rates became negative.^[14]

On 6 September 2011 the SNB set a minimum exchange rate of 1.20 francs to the euro saying "the value of the franc is a threat to the economy",^[15] and that it was "prepared to buy foreign currency in unlimited quantities."^[16] In response to the announcement the franc fell against the euro, to 1.22 francs from 1.12 francs^[17] and lost 9% against the U.S. dollar within fifteen minutes.^[18] The intervention stunned currency traders since the franc had long been regarded as a safe haven.^[19]

The franc fell 8.8% against the euro, 9.5% against the dollar, and at least 8.2% against all 16 of the most active currencies on the day of the announcement. It was the largest plunge of the franc ever against the euro.^[20] The SNB had previously set an exchange rate target in 1978 and maintained it,^{[clarification needed]} although at the cost of high inflation.^[21]

Coins[link]

Coins of the Helvetic Republic[link]

16 Franken, Helvetic republic, 1800, Gold.

Between 1798 and 1803, billon coins were issued in denominations of 1 rappen, ½ batzen, and 1 batzen. Silver coins were issued for 10, 20 and 40 batzen, with the 40 batzen coin also issued with the denomination given as 4 franken. Gold 16 and 32 franc coins were issued in 1800.^[22]

Coins of the Swiss Confederation[link]

In 1850, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 rappen and ½, 1, 2, and 5 francs, with the 1 and 2 rappen struck in bronze, the 5, 10, and 20 rappen in billon, and the franc denominations in .900 fine silver. Between 1860 and 1863, .800 fine silver was used, before the standard used in France of .835 fineness was adopted for all silver coins except the 5 francs (which remained .900 fineness) in 1875. In 1879, billon was replaced by cupro-nickel in the 5 and 10 rappen and by nickel in the 20 rappen.^[23]

Both world wars only had a small effect on the Swiss coinage, with brass and zinc coins temporarily being issued. In 1931, the size of the 5 franc coin was reduced from 25 grams to 15, with the silver content reduced to .835 fineness. The next year, nickel replaced cupro-nickel in the 5 and 10 rappen.^[24]

In the late 1960s, due to their linkage to the devaluing U.S. dollar, the prices of internationally traded commodities rose significantly. A silver coin's material value exceeded its monetary value, and many were being sent abroad for melting, which prompted the federal government to make this practice illegal.^[25] The statute was of little effect, and the melting of francs only subsided when the collectible value of the remaining francs again exceeded their material value.^{[citation needed]}

The 1 rappen coin was still produced until 2006, albeit in ever decreasing quantities, but it did not play any great role in the monetary economy in the fourth quarter of the twentieth century (circa 1975 to 2000). People and groups who could justify the use of 1 rappen coins for monetary purposes could obtain them at face value; any other user (such as collectors) had to pay an additional 4 rappen per coin to cover the production costs, which had exceeded the actual face value of the coin for many years. The coin fell into disuse in the late 1970s and early 1980s but was only officially fully withdrawn from circulation and declared to be no longer legal tender as of 1 January 2007. The long-forgotten 2 rappen coin, not minted since 1974, was demonetized 1 January 1978.^[24]

1 Swiss franc 1995
Reverse	Obverse

The designs of the coins have changed very little since 1879. Among the notable changes were new designs for the 5 franc coins in 1888, 1922, 1924 (minor) and 1931 (mostly just a size reduction). A new design for the bronze coins was used from 1948. Coins depicting a ring of stars (such as the 1 franc coin seen beside this paragraph) were modified from 22 stars to 23 stars in 1983; since the stars represent the Swiss cantons, it was updated to represent the 1979 expansion of the Swiss federation, when Jura seceded from the Canton of Bern and became the 23rd canton.^[24]

10 rappen 1879

The 10 rappen coins from 1879 onwards (except the years 1918–19 and 1932–39) have had the same composition, size and design until now (2011) and are still legal tender and found in circulation.^[24]

All Swiss coins are language-neutral (at least with respect to Switzerland's four national languages), featuring only numerals, the abbreviation "Fr." for franc, and the Latin phrases "Helvetia", "Confœderatio Helvetica" (depending on the denomination) or the inscription "Libertas" (roman goddess of liberty) on the small coins. The name of the artist is present on the coins with the standing Helvetia and the herder.^[26]

In addition to these general circulation coins, numerous series of commemorative coins have been issued, as well as silver and gold coins. These coins are no longer legal tender, but can be exchanged for face value at post offices, and at national and cantonal banks.^[27] Their material or collector's value equals or exceeds their face value.

Banknotes[link]

In 1907, the Swiss National Bank took over the issuance of banknotes from the cantons and various banks. It introduced denominations of 50, 100, 500 and 1000 francs. 20 franc notes were introduced in 1911, followed by 5 franc notes in 1913. In 1914, the Federal Treasury issued paper money in denominations of 5, 10 and 20 francs. These notes were issued in three different versions: French, German and Italian. The State Loan Bank also issued 25 franc notes that year. In 1952, the National Bank ceased issuing 5 franc notes but introduced 10 franc notes in 1955. In 1996, 200 franc notes were introduced whilst the 500 franc note was discontinued.

Eight series of banknotes have been printed by the National Bank, six of which have been released for use by the general public. The sixth series from 1976, designed by Ernst and Ursula Hiestand, depicted persons from the world of science. It has been recalled and replaced and will lose any value on 1 May 2020. As of 2010, a large number of notes from this series have not yet been exchanged, even though they have not been legal tender for more than 10 years; for example, the value of those 500 franc banknotes still in circulation represents 129.9 million Swiss francs.^[29]

Some security features (Iriodin digits and Kinegram) of the 20 Swiss francs banknote.

The seventh series was printed in 1984, but kept as a "reserve series", ready to be used if, for example, wide counterfeiting of the current series suddenly happened. When the Swiss National Bank decided to develop new security features and to abandon the concept of a reserve series, the details of the seventh series were released and the printed notes were destroyed.^[30]

The current, eighth series of banknotes was designed by Jörg Zintzmeyer around the theme of the arts and released starting in 1995. In addition to a new design, this series was different from the previous one on several counts. Probably the most important difference from a practical point of view was that the seldom-used 500 franc note was replaced by a new 200 franc note; this new note has indeed proved more successful than the old 500 franc note.^[31] The base colours of the new notes were kept similar to the old ones, except that the 20 franc note was changed from blue to red to prevent a frequent confusion with the 100 franc note, and that the 10 franc note was changed from red to yellow. The size of the notes was changed as well, with all notes from the 8th series having the same height (74 mm), while the widths were changed as well, still increasing with the value of the notes. The new series contains many more security features than the previous one;^[32] many (but not all) of them are now visibly displayed and have been widely advertised, in contrast with the previous series for which most of the features were kept secret.

8th (current) series of Swiss banknotes[33]
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Obverse	Date of issue	Remarks
Obverse	Reverse
		10 francs	126 × 74 mm	Yellow	Le Corbusier	8 April 1997
		20 francs	137 × 74 mm	Red	Arthur Honegger	1 October 1996
		50 francs	148 × 74 mm	Green	Sophie Taeuber-Arp	3 October 1995
		100 francs	159 × 74 mm	Blue	Alberto Giacometti	1 October 1998
		200 francs	170 × 74 mm	Brown	Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz	1 October 1997	Replaces the 500 francs banknote in the previous series
		1000 francs	181 × 74 mm	Purple	Jacob Burckhardt	1 April 1998
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimeter.

All banknotes are quadrilingual, displaying all information in the four national languages. The banknotes depicting a Germanophone person have German and Romansch on the same side as the picture, whereas banknotes depicting a Francophone or an Italophone person have French and Italian on the same side as the picture. The reverse has the other two languages.

When the 5th series lost its validity at the end of April 2000, the banknotes that had not been exchanged represented a total value of 244.3 million Swiss francs; in accordance with Swiss law, this amount was transferred to the Swiss Fund for Emergency Losses in the case of non-insurable natural disasters.^[34]

In February 2005, a competition was announced for the design of the 9th series, planned to be released around 2010 on the theme Switzerland open to the world. The results were announced in November 2005, but the selected design drew widespread criticisms from the population.^[35]

Circulation[link]

As of March 2010, the total value of released Swiss coins and banknotes was 49,664.0 million Swiss francs.^[29]

Combinations of up to 100 usual Swiss coins (not including special or commemorative coins) are legal tender; banknotes are legal tender for any amount.^[36]

Reserve currency[link]

The Swiss franc is used as a reserve currency around the world and is currently ranked rarely 5th or 6th in value held as reserves after the United States dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen and the pound sterling.

Current exchange rates[link]

See also[link]

Numismatics portal

• Banking in Switzerland
• Economy of Switzerland
• Hard currency
• Iraqi Swiss dinar—A common name for the old Iraqi currency but not related to Swiss currency.
• Liechtenstein frank

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Swiss franc

• (German) CashFollow.ch, Swiss Franc Tracker
• (German) Schweizer-Franken.ch, Information about the Swiss Franc
• Colnect.com, Swiss banknotes catalog

Ryan Leslie
Ryan Leslie on set of the "Good Girl" video in Las Vegas - December 2011
Background information
Birth name	Anthony Ryan Leslie
Born	(1978-09-25) September 25, 1978 (age 33) Washington, D.C.
Genres	R&B, Neo Soul, hip hop
Occupations	Music producer, singer-songwriter, musical arranger, rapper
Instruments	Guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums, vocals, trumpet
Years active	2000-present
Labels	NextSelection Lifestyle Group, Casablanca Records, Universal Republic
Associated acts	Cassie, Fabolous, Keri Hilson, Jadakiss, Booba, Jim Jones, LL Cool J, Lloyd Banks, Kanye West
Website	http://www.ryanleslie.com/

Anthony Ryan Leslie, known professionally as Ryan Leslie, (born September 25, 1978) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, rapper, entrepreneur, and singer. Founder of the media company NextSelection Lifestyle Group, Leslie has produced singles for a number of artists in a variety of genres ranging from R&B/Hip-Hop to Pop to Gospel. From 2005–2006, he had his most commercial success to date with NextSelection/Bad Boy/Atlantic recording artist Cassie and her single "Me & U". Leslie's debut album, Ryan Leslie (2009), features the songs "Diamond Girl," "Addiction," and "How It Was Supposed To Be." He was nominated for a Grammy in 2011.^[1]

Biography[link]

Ryan Leslie was born into a multicultural family. Leslie is the oldest son of mother (Evangeline) Mooi Leslie who is of Caribbean Dutch, Chinese, and African descent, and father Clement Leslie who is from Barbados and of Irish ancestry, raised in Trinidad.^{[citation needed]} His parents are Salvation Army officers who frequently relocate for work. Ryan has lived in various states, cities, and countries. At an early age, Leslie taught himself how to play the piano under the guidance of Marc Styles. He developed the ability to recite music, as well as arrange chords to create songs.^[2] At the age of 14, Leslie scored a 1600 on his SATs—a perfect score—while attending Bear Creek High School, in Stockton, CA.^[3] In 1993, he applied to four University of California campuses as well as Stanford, Yale and Harvard. In his application essays he explained his interest in matriculating from his junior year in high school without having earned a diploma. He was accepted to all except for Stanford. He ultimately decided to attend Harvard College.^[2] At the age of 19, Leslie graduated from Harvard with a degree in Government, concentrating in Political Science and Macroeconomics.^[4] During his commencement ceremonies, Ryan delivered the prestigious Harvard Oration.^[5]

Music[link]

During his freshman year at Harvard, Leslie devoted many hours per week to creating and developing music in a studio basement on campus. He taught himself basic production skills and also developed a musical style of his own. As the semesters progressed, Leslie spent more and more time in the school's studio molding his craft.^[2] He also performed many events around campus and was a part of the school's all male a cappella group The Krokodiloes.^[3] Due to the conflict with music and school, Leslie was put on academic probation three times during his college career.^[2] He has said in many interviews that during those college years, he became accustomed to getting 2 to 3 hours of sleep per night.^[2] To earn disposable income during these years, Leslie sold instrumentals to local artists in the Boston area.^{[citation needed]}

After graduating college, Leslie urged his parents to allow him to go in to the music industry. They told him that he could have a better future considering he graduated from college at the age of 19. Leslie insisted that he was going to pursue his musical interests for two years and if he didn't like it he would stop. Leslie remained in Boston because of its music scene. He took on community service jobs to help support himself and would spend nights in the recording studio working on his music.^[6] Eventually, Leslie moved back home with his parents in Phoenix where he convinced them to take out a loan for a production studio so that he could pursue music full-time. He vowed to his family that he would pay back the $15,000 loan one day, even if it meant going back to school and getting a more traditional job. For the next several months, Leslie worked towards developing a distinct sound. During this period, Leslie has said that he ate and slept very little.^{[citation needed]} In the summer of 2003, Ryan landed a production internship with producer Younglord. He has said in interviews that he considers this 30-day internship the jump-start of his career in the music industry. Within the first week, Leslie produced the song “Keep Giving Your Love To Me” that would later be performed by Beyoncé for the Bad Boys II soundtrack. ^[7] The soundtrack was supervised by Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was impressed by Leslie’s production style and offered him a management contract upon meeting him.^[8]

Under the management of Combs, Leslie worked on various Bad Boy Records projects including releases from Loon, Cheri Dennis, B5, New Edition and Danity Kane. During that time, Leslie also co-produced a record for Britney Spears. Also in 2003, Leslie was introduced by his then attorney Ed Woods to Tommy Mottola. Mottola soon became a mentor of Leslie’s and offered him a publishing deal with Aspen Songs and a recording contract with Casablanca, Mottola's imprint distributed by Universal Music Group. Under the mentorship of Mottola and Combs, Leslie signed then-aspiring model Cassie Ventura to his imprint, NextSelection in 2005.^[8]

In late 2003, Leslie began recording his debut album entitled Just Right, and released two singles: "The Way That U Move Girl" and "Used 2 Be" (with Fabolous). The album was never officially released due to creative differences between Leslie and his record label.^[9]

Debut album, Transitions, & Leaving Label[link]

Ryan Leslie returned to the studio in 2006 to record a new debut album. The lead single, "Diamond Girl", was released in December 2007.^[10] The video for "Diamond Girl" was premiered on BET’s 106 & Park, and released on Leslie’s YouTube channel with a special behind the scenes clip. In November 2007, he released a video for a song named "I-R-I-N-A" that was produced in-house and released through his YouTube channel as well.

His second single, "Addiction," features pop singer and protege Cassie with a rap cameo from long-time collaborator, rapper Fabolous. The song was officially released in August 2008.^[10] Of the two music videos made for the song, the "Making of 'Addiction'" clip became Leslie's most popular video on YouTube, with more than 3.2 million views.

His third single, "How It Was Supposed To Be," also has two music videos: a rock version and a military take on the song, which was Leslie's directorial debut and was co-directed by model Tyson Beckford.^[11] The single was released March 23, 2009. After many setbacks, his self-titled album, Ryan Leslie, was finally released on February 10, 2009. Leslie wrote, arranged, produced, and performed every song on his album. Notable instrumentalists on his debut set include Tommy Mottola, Tom "T-Bone" Wolk, and Brent Paschke.

Ryan Leslie enamored old and new fans alike (June 23) during the first of two back-to-back performances at New York City's Bowery Ballroom. The R&B singer/rapper/songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist(who parted ways with former label Universal Motown mid 2010) celebrated his new-found independence with performances of former hits like "Addicted" and "How It Was Supposed to Be," as well as two new tracks: "Glory" and "Maybachs and Diamonds."

"Never had a top ten, but they still respect my art," Ryan Leslie sang during "Glory," which is slated to be included on his third release, "Les Is More" -- his first independent album following 2009's self-titled debut and "Transition." "Maybachs and Diamonds" is a slow, groovy tune about flourishing his partner with more than just material things, like "Maybachs and Diamonds."

Initially, Leslie had a four-album deal with Universal, but toward the end of that contract, "Universal was interested in reshaping my deal to more of a 360, and they actually made a counter-offer from the initial recording fund," Leslie tells Billboard.com. "At that point I saw that as a window to potentially branch off and try something that was going to be new and dynamic."

While Leslie did not make any formal announcements about his departure from Universal Motown during the set, he took some subtle jabs at his previous label home. "I've always wanted to play these songs but I couldn't before," he said while singing "Guardian Angel." "I always felt like this song should be a single.

Les Is More[link]

Ryan Leslie announced on Twitter and Facebook in January 2011, that his third album would be released July 4th, 2011. His first official single from the album released was 'Glory', despite the first singles performed being 'Beautiful Lie' and 'Breathe'. However Leslie would later announce on his website and Twitter account that the album has now been pushed back for a release 'This Fall'. On October 11th, he sent an e-mail to his fanbase saying "I promise 'Les Is More' is just a few weeks away.".

Les is More is now a visual album. So far "Glory", "Beautiful Lie", "Good Girl" and "5 Minute Freshen Up" are out on his website. The latter was released on March 20, 2012. "Dress You To Undress You" and "Swiss Francs" are still scheduled for release. Other Tracks Mentioned to be on the album by Leslie via his official Twitter are "Ready or Not" and " Live Good (Rivera Flow) Feat. Raekwon". Leslie has preformed the tracks "Breathe (Feat. Mr Hudson) and "One Lonely Heart" live and said they would be included on Les is More. "Joan Of Arc" was released in Mid-2011 and Leslie stated at that time that it would be included on Les is More.

Ryan Leslie has announced a date for his album "Les Is More" via Twitter. The artist's third album is set to be released on June 5.

Online presence[link]

Leslie’s blog, YouTube channel, MySpace page and most recently Twitter have been the biggest contributors to his growing fanbase.^[12] His videos have become some of the most popular on YouTube, bringing accolades such as "Top 10 Most Subscribed Users".^[2] Leslie also posts videos documenting his interaction with his audience, including giving away free iPods,^[13] backstage passes to his concerts,^[14] and invitations to have dinner with him.^[15] His energy and creative spontaneity have earned him the respect from those inside and outside of the music industry. On his website/video diary, there is a clip featuring artists such as Boyz II Men, Chrisette Michelle, Musiq Soulchild, Keri Hilson, Christina Milian, and David Banner praising him for the inspiration they have received from his videos.

Prior to his 2009 MySpace Release concert, Leslie encouraged aspiring musical artists to utilize digital media while marketing themselves.^[16]

NextSelection Lifestyle Group[link]

While working as a producer, Leslie went on to create NextSelection Lifestyle Group, his music-media company he founded with online marketing partner Rasheed Richmond.^[17][18] Ryan signed his first artist, Cassie in 2005. Under Ryan’s guidance, Cassie went on to become one of the fastest rising R&B acts that year. Her breakout smash "Me & U" (written and produced by Leslie) spent 20 weeks on the Top 40 and went on to reach number three on the Billboard Hot 100, selling over a million digital units. Me & U also went on to become one of the biggest records in the history of Atlantic Records.^[19]

Recently, Ryan signed Krys Ivory as his newest act under NextSelection.^[20] He also signed YouTube star Mia Rose.^[6]

Musical influences[link]

Leslie has stated in many interviews that Stevie Wonder is one of the biggest influences on his music. He attributes Michael Jackson, Prince, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, VBak, Quincy Jones, The Beatles, Sconch & McGubbs, Tom Waits and D'Angelo as musical heroes as well.^{[citation needed]}

Celebrity[link]

Leslie was named one of "New York's 50 Hottest Bachelors" in 2009 by PageSix Magazine, published by the New York Post.^[21] He is currently romantically linked to Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue Model Kenza Fourati.^[22]

Discography[link]

Studio Album[link]

• 2005: Just Right (Unreleased)
• 2007: Used To Be (Mixtape)
• 2009: Ryan Leslie
• 2009: Transition
• 2012: Les Is More

Awards/Nominations[link]

• BET Awards
  • 2009, Best Male R&B Artist [Nominated]
  • 2009, Best New Artist [Nominated]

• Grammy Awards
  • 2011, Best Contemporary R&B Album: Transition (Nominated)

• Soul Train Awards
  • 2009, Best New Artist [Nominated]

• Academic Awards
  • 2010, AMBLE Vanguard Award from Harvard University^[23]

References[link]

This article may contain inappropriate or misinterpreted citations that do not verify the text. Please help improve this article by checking for inaccuracies. (help, talk, get involved!) (October 2010)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ryan Leslie

• Official website
• Ryan Leslie Discography & Production
• French Interview for SoulRnB.com
• Ryan Leslie on Soulrnb.com French Artist Page

James Beeland Rogers, Jr.
Born	(1942-10-19) October 19, 1942 (age 69) Baltimore, Maryland, USA[1]
Alma mater	Balliol College, Oxford Yale University
Occupation	Chairman of Rogers Holdings and Beeland Interests, Inc. Co-founder of the Quantum Fund
Website
www.jimrogers.com

James Beeland Rogers, Jr. (born October 19, 1942) is an American investor and author. He is currently based in Singapore. Rogers is the Chairman of Rogers Holdings and Beeland Interests, Inc. He was the co-founder of the Quantum Fund with George Soros and creator of the Rogers International Commodities Index (RICI).

Rogers is an outspoken proponent of the free market, but he does not consider himself a member of any school of thought. Rogers acknowledged, however, that his views best fit the label of Austrian School of economics.^[2][3]

Early life and education[link]

Rogers was born in Baltimore, Maryland and raised in Demopolis, Alabama.^[1][4] He started in business at the age of five by selling peanuts and by picking up empty bottles that fans left behind at baseball games. He got his first job on Wall Street, at Dominick & Dominick, after graduating with a bachelor's degree in History from Yale University in 1964. Rogers then acquired a second BA degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Balliol College, Oxford University in 1966.

Business career[link]

1970-2002[link]

In 1970, Rogers joined Arnhold and S. Bleichroder. In 1973, Rogers co-founded the Quantum Fund with George Soros. During the following 10 years, the portfolio gained 4200% while the S&P advanced about 47%.^[5] The Quantum Fund was one of the first truly international funds.

In 1980, Rogers decided to "retire", and spent some of his time traveling on a motorcycle around the world. Since then, he has been a guest professor of finance at the Columbia Business School.^[6]

In 1989 and 1990, Rogers was the moderator of WCBS' The Dreyfus Roundtable and FNN's The Profit Motive with Jim Rogers. From 1990 to 1992, he traveled through China again, as well as around the world, on motorcycle, over 100,000 miles (160,000 km) across six continents, which was picked up in the Guinness Book of World Records. He tells of his adventures and worldwide investments in Investment Biker, a bestselling investment book.

In 1998, Rogers founded the Rogers International Commodity Index. In 2007, the index and its three sub-indices were linked to exchange-traded notes under the banner ELEMENTS. The notes track the total return of the indices as an accessible way to invest in the index. Rogers is an outspoken advocate of agriculture investments.

Between January 1, 1999 and January 5, 2002, Rogers did another Guinness World Record journey through 116 countries, covering 245,000 kilometers with his wife, Paige Parker, in a custom-made Mercedes. The trip began in Iceland, which was about to celebrate the 1000th anniversary of Leif Eriksson's first trip to America. On January 5, 2002, they were back in New York City and their home on Riverside Drive. His route around the world can be viewed on his website, jimrogers.com. He wrote Adventure Capitalist following this around-the-world adventure. It is currently his bestselling book.

2002 to present[link]

On his return in 2002, Rogers became a regular guest on Fox News' Cavuto on Business and other financial TV shows.^[7] In 2002, Rogers said that Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's "reaction to the stock-market bubble has caused two more bubbles to grow: a real-estate bubble and a consumer-debt bubble."^[8] In 2006, Rogers said he was shorting US financials, home builders and Fannie Mae.^[9][10]