In-Depth

 Unlike most of us, Gray actually follows his own advice. By kindergarten he had a bigger sense of purpose than most college grads. "I started using my lunch box as a briefcase," he says, "and wearing my brother's necktie over my bathrobe [when I was] six years old."

Gray's resume now reads well beyond his years: motivational speaker, venture capitalist, inventor and, as of last February, publisher. Gray's intent these days is to turn around the beleaguered Inner City, a free urban entertainment glossy - and in the process refashion himself into a media tycoon.

Last year, Gray bought an 80 percent interest in the title, which was little more than a brand extension for 107.5 WBLS, Inner City's flagship hip-hop and R&B station in New York City. (Inner City abandoned it in 2000 due to lack of advertising). This June, Gray will relaunch the title as ICE (Inner City Entertainment), a celebrity-driven, urban book for 14- to-24-year olds. And with the bravado of a seasoned publisher on the prowl for PR, he predicts that ICE will be "a household name after the first issue."

Seems he's picked up a thing or two from his homework. After Gray signed the Inner City contract, he started devouring books like The Magazine from Cover to Cover and The Editor in Chief: A Practical Management Guide for Magazine Editors. He says he's invested at least $2,000 at the newsstand, snatching up every youth/music/entertainment/pop and urban culture title he can find. And he has "studied everybody," from Wenner Media CEO Jann Wenner to Teen People managing editor Barbara O'Dair, although he says Oprah is the only publishing figure he truly admires. "Oprah is the queen. I'm not giving anyone else any more credit."

An entrepreneurial start

When Gray was eight and living with his mother and four siblings in an apartment on the south side of Chicago, his mother introduced him to engineer Roi Tauer, who planted the idea that Gray should start a club and put his entrepreneurial ideas to work. Gray rounded up some kids in the neighborhood and founded UNEEC, the Urban Neighborhood Economic Enterprise Club.

Within five years, UNEEC grew into a venture capital fund, called New Early Entrepreneurs Wonder (NE2W), that invested anywhere from $500 to $10,000 in a slew of youth start-ups, including catering operations and record labels. Gray opened an NE2W office on Wall Street and split his time between New York and his new home, Las Vegas. At 14, he launched his own venture, Farr-Out Foods, whose main product was a strawberry-vanilla syrup that never quite made it to store shelves. Still, when Gray sold Farr-Out to an Israeli candy company in 2001, it had product orders worth over $1.5 million. (Gray is guarded when it comes to discussing his personal wealth, and though he's been touted as a millionaire in press releases, he refuses to comment on the particulars of his finances.)

Gray took his success story on the road, speaking mainly to audiences of color at high schools, then colleges and civic groups, commanding up to $10,000 per speech - 10 to 50 percent of which was donated to his charity for inner city after-school programs, the Farrah Gray Foundation.

"My message is not business," says Gray, who also serves on the board of the Southern Nevada United Way. "My focus has been on making the best investment, which is yourself."

It was at a speaking engagement that Gray first discovered Inner City. For its final issue in fall 2000, the magazine profiled Gray as "Young, Rich and Handsome," in a write-up about his speech to the National Association of Black Social Workers in Los Angeles. Months later, Gray met Inner City chairman emeritus Percy Sutton at another speaking engagement. "I was the kickoff keynote speaker for the U.S. Department of Commerce," Gray recalls. Sutton heaped praise on Gray, and prophesied that he would become the next rising star in African American business.

That issue would be Inner City's last: at 138 pages, the title contained only 18 ad pages. "Either [the magazine] was going to be on hiatus, or they were going to close the magazine if they couldn't find someone who could reposition the title," says Gray. "I could see where it could be targeted toward a younger demographic." And he wanted to work with Sutton, a former Manhattan borough president, activist and dealmaker. Rescuing the magazine could be a perfect opportunity to do so. Gray soon made an offer to buy the title outright.

In the final deal, signed in February 2001, Gray acquired 80 percent of the magazine for an undisclosed sum. His purchase coincided with the collapse of the ad market, so, opting to wait out the storm - exacerbated by the post-9/11 ad fallout - Gray pushed the launch to the July 2002 issue. ICE's debut will be a special "Showtime at the Apollo" issue, with original interviews with OutKast, Mary J Blige and Fat Joe - and "the story on the stage, on the stars," he says.

And the magazine will remain free. "We're able to reach our demographic better," says Gray. ICE will be distributed by Trader Distribution in colleges and convenient stores. "We have a street team [a group of high-school and college students ICE has recruited through campus fliers] that will take the magazine to urban hot spots - movie theaters and concerts," says Gray. "We're reaching them all across the country where a paid magazine cannot be. That's just reality."

Yet that will pose its own challenges. Gray is counting on ICE's revenue to come entirely from advertising at a time when ad dollars are scarce. Gray won't comment on how many ad pages he's secured for the 96-page first issue - he's hoping for 40 ads, noting only that he's speaking to clothing and record companies and "we haven't heard a 'no' yet."

Gray's ICE won't compete with other urban books like Vibe or The Source, which have older readers. The magazine will vie for the Teen People audience, which Gray sees as a disconnected marketing vehicle. "I feel like the editors don't realize that they have to breathe and be a part of the energy of the culture," he says. "You have to get on the bus, walk with them, be a part of their lifestyle. The key thing would be to stay true to your audience."

"I think [going into business with Farrah] was a great choice because now we're making a magazine for his peers," says Isabella LaForet, account executive of Inner City and managing editor of ICE. "Who else can make a better magazine than somebody who knows what that demographic wants?"

On the surface, Gray might seem to share little with his peers, given that he's spent more time in board rooms than on ball fields. But on occasion Gray betrays his age. During lunch at the Four Seasons Restaurant in Beverly Hills, he drops his buttoned-down image when he spots one of his idols: Robert Johnson, head of Viacom's BET. "There he is! What should I say?" From inside the restaurant, Gray peeks out at Johnson on the patio, unsure how to proceed. After some coaching from this reporter, he walks over to Johnson's table. "Mr. Johnson? I'm Farrah Gray. We met at the White House."

Still, Gray manages to maneuver between the two personas fairly easily. Moments before the Johnson sighting, he was considering his future. "Do I want to be a mogul? Yes. Definitely," grinned Gray. "I see an empire, basically. That's the real mogul status."