FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT :
HSAN/Jody L. Miller
Ellen Zoe Golden
JLM PR, Inc.
O: (212) 431-5227
Jody’s cell: 917-770-3970
Ellen’s cell: 917-213-8582
[email protected]
[email protected]

CHRYSLER FINANCIAL
/Amber Paauwe
O: 248-427-3126
C: 248-535-0210
[email protected]
SUZE ORMAN/Mark Hall
786-281-7007
[email protected]

CHRYSLER FINANCIAL, THE HIP-HOP SUMMIT ACTION NETWORK, SUZE ORMAN AND ANHEUSER-BUSCH COME TOGETHER TO EDUCATE AND EMPOWER YOUNG PEOPLE AT DETROIT HIP-HOP SUMMIT ON FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT

RUSSELL SIMMONS, EMINEM, LIL JON AND THE EASTSIDE BOYZ, REVEREND RUN, “AMERICAN IDOL” WINNER FANTASIA, D12, MASTER P, COMMON, STAT QUO, OBIE TRICE AND MC SERCH JOIN FORCES IN DETROIT TO SUPPORT FINANCIAL LITERACY FOR YOUTH

DETROIT, MI. – MAY 6, 2005 – Detroit’s Max M. Fisher Music Center will be the launch site of an unprecedented national campaign to raise awareness among millions of young adults 18-35 about the importance of financial empowerment. For the first time, one of the world’s leading financial institutions, Chrysler Financial, is partnering with the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN), the nation’s largest non-profit hip-hop organization, to help young people build a solid financial future. Russell Simmons, Chairman of HSAN and William F. Jones, Jr., Vice President of Chrysler Financial have pledged to work together to coordinate this national campaign under the theme “Get Your Money Right.” Russell Simmons, who revolutionized the financial payments industry two years ago by offering basic banking services to individuals without access to a traditional banking relationship via the Rush Prepaid Visa Card, realized there was a broader need in the community that could only be addressed through education. The campaign encompasses the Hip-Hop Summit on Financial Empowerment National Tour and a broad-based multi-media platform via the Hip Hop Summit Action Network internet portal ( www.hsan.org ).

The Detroit Hip-Hop Summit on Financial Empowerment will take place on Saturday, May 14 th at the Max M. Fisher Music Center, 3711 Woodward Avenue in Detroit. Doors open at 9:30am. There will be a $10 admission fee which will include receiving a package of financial literacy materials. Tickets can be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 248-645-6666.

Detroit native and multi-platinum selling artist Eminem will participate in the Detroit Hip-Hop Summit on Financial Empowerment This will be the third Hip-Hop Summit in which Eminem has participated in the city of Detroit. Other artists taking part in the Detroit Hip-Hop Summit on Financial Empowerment include Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz, RSMG recording artist Reverend Run of the legendary Run DMC, “American Idol” winner Fantasia Barrino, D12, Master P, Common, Stat Quo, Obie Trice and MC Serch. Different artists will join the Hip-Hop Summit on Financial Empowerment National Tour in the following major cities: June 7- Washington, D.C.; July 15- Miami, Fla.; August 20- St. Louis, Mo.; September 17- Los Angeles, Calif. and November 5-Chicago, Ill.

Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) and Congresswoman Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI) will also be participating in this historic Summit and will present the support of the Congressional Black Caucus for this important initiative.

Suze Orman , America ’s most listened to personal finance expert, New York Times best-selling author and creator/host of CNBC’s “The Suze Orman Show” will be participating throughout the entire tour.

The title sponsor of the Hip-Hop Summit on Financial Empowerment Tour is Chrysler Financial. The presenting sponsor is Anheuser-Busch, Inc. The Detroit media partner is Clear Channel Radio’s WJLB FM98.

“’Get Your Money Right’ is a hot and important topic for the hip-hop generation,” said Russell Simmons, Chairman of HSAN. “Through hip-hop artists, the generous support and vision of partners like Chrysler Financial, Anheuser-Busch and leading experts in the field of personal finance like Suze Orman, we intend to make personal finance more interesting and accessible to millions of young people, as we open the door wider for them to achieve their higher aspirations.”

“The Hip Hop Summit Action Network, with its pulse on youth culture, and access to millions of young people, is the right partner in our quest to help the next generation of Americans make smart decisions with their finances,” said William F. Jones, Jr., Vice President-Chrysler Financial.

“Americas youth are bright, ambitious, yet face very different challenges today, than even their parents did when it comes to personal finance,” said Suze Orman, host of CNBC’s “The Suze Orman Show” and author of the recently released New York Times bestseller, The Money Book For The Young, Fabulous, And Broke. “Providing them the resources they need to be successful is the critical first step in helping them to secure their financial futures,” she added.

Johnny Furr, vice president, Sales Development and Community Affairs for Anheuser-Busch, Inc., said that “more than ever it is important that our youth realize that you can’t achieve financial goals tomorrow that you don’t begin planning for today.” Furr said that the value of the summits is that they “provide participants with information about key financial issues and opportunities that many haven’t begun to think about, but should, in order to create and leave wealth that sustains families and communities.”

“HSAN is serious about spitting truth to power,” declared Dr. Benjamin Chavis, President/CEO of HSAN. “The Hip-Hop Summit on Financial Empowerment Tour is an important opportunity to transform the lives and conditions of those who yearn for a better way of life.”

The program agenda of the Detroit Hip-Hop Summit will be replicated in the other markets to include a focus on financial literacy, basic banking, repairing and understanding credit scores, asset and wealth management, auto financing, home ownership and entrepreneurship.

About DaimlerChrysler Services North America LLC

The company provides brand-specific financing for automotive dealers’ inventories and their retail consumers and does business as Mercedes-Benz Credit and Chrysler Financial. As DaimlerChrysler Services Truck Finance it also finances commercial vehicles for affiliate products such as Freightliner, Sterling and Western Star. The company serves as the headquarters for operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America and Puerto Rico and has more than 5,800 employees who manage a portfolio of more than $95 billion with nearly five million contracts. DaimlerChrysler Services North America is a member of the DaimlerChrysler Financial Services group of companies. This group is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, and operates in 39 countries with an employee base exceeding 10,800 and a global portfolio of approximately $139 billion. DaimlerChrysler Financial Services group is one of the leading financial services entities worldwide. For more information on DaimlerChrysler Services in the Americas visit www.daimlerchryslerservices.com/na .

About Anheuser-Busch

Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch Cos., Inc. is the leading American brewer holding 50 percent of the U.S. beer market. The company is American-owned and brews the world’s largest-selling beers, Budweiser and Bud Light Anheuser-Busch ranked first in the U.S. beverage industry in FORTUNE magazine’s 2005 “ America’s Most Admired Companies” and in the top 30 on FORTUNE’s 2005 “Global Most Admired Companies” list. The company is one of the largest theme park operators in the United States, is a major manufacturer of aluminum cans and is the world’s largest recycler of aluminum beverage containers. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com or www.africanamericanbud.com .

About Hip-Hop Summit Action Network

HSAN is a non-profit, non-partisan national coalition of artists, entertainment industry leaders, education advocates, civil rights proponents and youth leaders united in the belief that the "hip-hop" phenomena is an enormously influential agent for positive social change which must be responsibly and pro-actively utilized to fight the war on poverty and injustice.