Musical Entrepreneur. He was an American music publisher, lyricist, and jazz artist promoter from the late 1910s, making him a pioneer in the music business. In 1930 he performed and recorded with his jazz group "The Hotsy Totsy Gang," and at various times the gang included such great musicians as the Dorsey brothers, Benny Goodman and Glen Miller to name a few. Born Isadore Minsky, his Russian-Jewish family immigrated from Odessa in the Russian Empire, which is today in the Ukraine, to New York City on July 25, 1896. After his father died of tuberculosis in 1905, he and his brother Jacob did various jobs to support the family. The brothers had to overcome the fact that English was their second language. After marrying in 1911, he moved to Philadelphia with his brother joining him within a few years before returning to New York City. In 1919 he joined with his brother and Samuel Jesse Buzzell to start a musical publishing company named Jack Mills Music, Incorporated. With the death of Italian operatic tenor, Enrico Caruso, in 1921, the newly-formed company published "They Needed a Song Bird in Heaven, So God Took Caruso Away," which brought numerous new clients, including very talented African-American composers who may have had difficulty getting published elsewhere. By 1928 their company was named Mills Music, Incorporated. Irving and Jack Mills were successful discovering talented new performers, such as Hoagy Carmichael, a vocalist and songwriter. Mills organized the musicians' tours and publicity, being paid up to 50% of the performers' income. Their business managed to go through the Great Depression, operating for over fifty years and purchasing failing companies. He collaborated with the legendary jazz great Duke Ellington by writing the lyrics on many popular original compositions, including the 1931 "It Don't Mean a Thing, If It Ain't Got That Swing," and in 1933 "Sophisticated Lady." He was one of the first to record on 78 vinyl African-American and White musicians playing together, using twelve white musicians and the Duke Ellington Orchestra. In 1943 he produced his only film with 20th Century studio, with mainly African-American performers being showcased, "Stormy Weather" starring Lena Horne and Cab Calloway. By the time the company was sold in 1965, 1,500 of the company's musical compositions were still producing royalties worth $1.3 million. Mills Music, the world's largest independent music publishing company, sold for $5 million. Eventually, Mills Music was made The Mills Music Trust. With the brothers were over the age of 70, Jack Mills and his wife retired to California and Irving Mills and his wife to Florida.