Berry Gordy founds Motown Records with an $800 loan

Berry Gordy founded Tamla Records (soon renamed Motown) in Detroit in 1959 with an $800 family loan, building it into the most successful Black-owned record label in history. Motown's assembly-line approach to pop music produced dozens of chart-topping acts and became a cornerstone of American cultural life, making Gordy the first Black American to build a major entertainment corporation.