[3] Berry II was born and raised in Georgia, but later left for Detroit both for job opportunities offered by the booming automotive businesses as well as worries over the racist atmosphere of the American South; in the first twenty years of the 20th century alone there were over 1,500 lynchings, most of them committed by the Ku Klux Klan targeting black men.
The eldest Gordy daughter, Esther (April 25, 1920 – August 24, 2011), born in Georgia, established herself early in business as a political campaigner for her husband, Detroit politician George Edwards.
She was in charge of the family's savings fund which they called the "Ber-Berry" Co-op (a combination of the parents names "Bertha" and "Berry").
Edwards also served as mentor, adviser, and vice president of Motown's main offices from 1961 until 1972, when Berry moved the entire operation to Los Angeles.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Anna co-wrote The Originals' biggest hits, "Baby I'm For Real" and "The Bells", alongside Marvin.
Another astute businesswoman, Loucye (1924 – July 24, 1965) was named head of Jobete Music, Motown's main publishing division created by Berry.
Anna would be the site where the hit song, "Money (That's What I Want)", then a regional single for Berry's Tamla Records, would get its first national distribution.
By 1964, Gwen joined Motown's staff songwriting team, later writing "Distant Lover" for her brother-in-law, Marvin Gaye, and discovering the disco group High Inergy in 1976.
A former boxer and jazz record store owner, Berry Gordy, Jr. (born November 28, 1929) first got involved with producing and writing R&B songs in 1955.
He convinced his sister Esther to lend him $800 from the tuition fund his father had established for him and formed Tamla Records in January of that year.
By 1973, Motown had produced more than 100 top ten and number-one singles on various Billboard charts and had become the most successful black business company ever.
Also an early songwriter of several songs for the Motown label, Gordy recorded a 1958 novelty hit, titled "Everyone Was There", under the stage name Bob Kayli.
Iris Gordy (born 1943) served as a vice president at Motown, where she helped launch the careers of DeBarge, Teena Marie, and Rick James.
They struck a deal with BEACHBODY to license her "Debbie Siebers' Slim in 6" weight loss program which grossed an excess of $250 million.
He is now the CEO of KGIP, Inc., an intellectual property management and consulting firm, which specializes in copyright recapture, sync licensing, and brand revitalization.
Rhonda Ross Kendrick is the daughter of Berry Gordy Jr. and Diana Ross, Rhonda garnered fame as an actress, first in the daytime soap Another World for which she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy and later in films such as The Temptations, where she played Temptations original member Paul Williams' wife.
Performing alongside his nephew Skyler Gordy, who himself is known as Sky Blu, he is a singer, rapper and dancer best known as part of the musical duo LMFAO.
Daughter of Denise Gordy and Richard Lawson, Bianca, like her parents, achieved fame as an actress appearing in numerous television productions and theatrical releases.
Performing alongside his uncle Stefan Gordy, who himself is known as Redfoo, he is a singer, rapper and dancer best known as part of the musical duo LMFAO.
[8][9] This is considered as Gordy's most significant financial contribution to Detroit since 1972, when he relocated Motown Records to Los Angeles.