Fame & Fortune: Rev Run Simmons 'My main business is giving -- the money comes back to me'
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Bankrate: When Run-DMC started getting big, how did you handle all the money that came in?

Rev Run: I gave it to my dad, and he put it in an account. I'd look up, "Wow, $400,000, $500,000, whoo hoo!" I didn't know what to do. I came home in '86, he said, "Here's a house you should buy -- it's $150,000." "OK, daddy." I was young; I didn't know what to do with the money. I didn't understand finances. What I did understand was I was rich. More pizza, more weed, more beer. Be a bigger kid. Money only magnifies what you're already doing. I knew I could buy another 40 ounce bottle of beer. I didn't have any real goals about money, aside from more of what I was already dealing with.

Bankrate: How did you start to learn about handling your finances?

Rev Run: When I made it to Bishop Jordan. That was in 1991. He was a bishop of a church called Zoe Ministries, and he taught on wealth. And he taught good. He taught us how to handle wealth, how to circulate wealth. He taught us about circulation of money --- how to tithe, how to be charitable, how to keep money flowing in your life. I'm still with Bishop Jordan now. He taught me about real estate. That $150,000 is now an almost $6 million house in Saddle River, N.J. He taught us that being charitable and letting go actually brings money back to you, so his main interest was putting money where it likes to be. He explained that Donald Trump is rich because he gives people entertainment. He'll buy a hotel and you can have fun in it. There's always life around his money. So he taught us that money needs to have a place where it can express itself and give itself, not just sit stagnant.

Bankrate: Was your brother involved in helping handle your finances?

Rev Run: It was Bishop Jordan, but also, Russell saw something. We did a business deal together for sneakers. For some reason, I have a sneaker anointing. When I get around sneakers, Adidas and stuff, it just seems to sell. I don't know why, but God seems to want to bless me through sneakers. So Russell said, "Let's do a 50-50 split on the sneaker part of my company, and it exploded. "Ah, ha! I knew Joey had sneaker anointing that we could explode into $100 million!" I always make the joke to him that if he had a crystal ball, he wouldn't have given me 50 percent. Because I said, "Give me some money upfront," and he says, "No, no money upfront. You make this thing work." I was a 50 percent owner with Russell Simmons, and it exploded into maybe $150 million within three years. I am now the president of Phat Farm Footwear and the CEO of Run Athletics. Run Athletics is a manufacturing, distribution and design company, where I make Phat Farm Footwear, Arthur Ashe sneakers and Legacy, and I mind the sneaker business. My joke as a priest is, I'm saving the soles of men.