Making a net worth of billion dollar is a milestone feat of achievement in America where grinding towards being a billionaire as Black descents might even seem tougher.
The recent Forbes’ Billionaires List shows that only six of the United States’ 615 billionaires are African American. This drastically low percentage of Black Americans to climb up the ladder of overwhelming opulence infers the broadening lacuna between the socioeconomic status of Black Americans and White Americans.
In 1992, the median net worth of white families was $100,000 above that of Black families, according to McKinsey. By 2016, the median wealth of white families grew to become about $50,000 wealthier than Black folks at $152,000. The report at this time showed a stunted growth in the median wealth of Black families.
However, the United States is facing a national reckoning over racism, as cities across the country got engulfed with massive protests over the past few weeks at the wake of the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery.
Meanwhile, the wealthiest people on the global scale by Forbes’ Magazine parades few Black descents on the billionaire list.
Only 13 of the 2,153 people on Forbes’ 2019 Billionaires List were black, the magazine reported. In 2018, that number was 11. Forbes didn’t publish a racial breakdown of its 2020 Billionaires List.
Keep reading to learn more about America’s Black billionaires, listed in ascending order of net worth.
1. Investor Robert F. Smith is the richest black man in the country.
Net worth: $5 billion
Source of wealth: private equity
A Cornell graduate and former Goldman Sachs executive, Smith built his multibillion-dollar fortune running private equity firm Vista Equity Partners, Business Insider previously reported. Vista is one of the most successful private equity firms in the United States, with more than $46 billion in assets and posting annual returns of 22%.
Smith was the first African American to sign The Giving Pledge in 2017, an invitation-only alliance of billionaires who have pledged to give away the majority of their fortunes. Smith is well recognized for his philanthropy. In May 2019, he announced a $34 million gift to pay off the student loans of Morehouse College’s class of 2019 while speaking during the historically black college’s graduation ceremony. Smith later expanded the gift to cover the graduates’ parents’ educational debt.
2. David Steward built his fortune running an IT service provider that counts Citi, Verizon, and the federal government as clients.
Net worth: $3.5 billion
Source of wealth: information technology services
Steward founded World Wide Technology, an IT services company that has generated over $11 billion in sales, according to Forbes. Steward, 68, serves as the company’s chairman. The Missouri-based billionaire still has a majority stake in the company.
3. Oprah Winfrey made a multimillion-dollar fortune from her media empire.
Net worth: $2.6 billion
Source of wealth: media
Born to a single mother in rural Mississippi, Winfrey started out as a news anchor before spending 25 years hosting “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” The investments Winfrey made with her share of the show’s profits are now worth about $2 billion, Forbes gave the estimation. Also according to the Los Angeles Times, she became a billionaire in 2003,
Winfrey, now 66, also took a handful advantage of her show’s success to build a media empire and accrued a wealth of $2.6 billion in the process, according to Forbes. She owns 25.5% of her television network, Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), an 8% stake in WW International, and has a content creation deal with Apple TV+.
Oprah has also voiced characters in “Charlotte’s Web,” “The Bee Movie,” and “The Princess and the Frog,” in addition to starring in “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” and “Selma,” among others, according to The Oprah Magazine.
4. Michael Jordan used his success as a basketball player to build a best-selling footwear brand.
Net worth: $2.1 billion
Source of wealth: sports, endorsements
Jordan, 57, is the highest-paid athlete of all time, but not because of his salary from the Chicago Bulls. Jordan earned $1.4 billion prior to taxes from corporate sponsorships during his professional basketball career. His film debut, “Space Jam,” also earned $250 million at the worldwide box office, according to IMDB.
The basketball legend then went on to purchase an NBA team, the Charlotte Hornets, in 2010. The Hornets may be the third least-valuable NBA franchise according to Forbes, but the team’s valuation at $1.05 billion is still a major part of Jordan’s wealth. Jordan has also made a lot of money from Nike’s Air Jordan line, which made him a billionaire in 2015, according to CNN Business.
5. Kanye West is America’s newest Black billionaire.
Net worth: $1.3 billion
Source of wealth: music, streetwear brand Yeezy
After a years-long campaign by West to get added to the magazine’s annual Billionaires List, Forbes declared Kanye West a billionaire in April. Forbes in its release says that the 43-year-old rapper and fashion designer is worth $1.3 billion, mostly because of his sole ownership of his brand Yeezy. Nevertheless, West has reportedly claimed that his net worth is $3.3 billion.
6. Jay-Z grew the proceeds from his music career into a billion-dollar fortune with smart investments.
Net worth: $1 billion
Source of wealth: music, investments
Shawn Carter, popularly called Jay-Z, is the hip hop’s first billionaire, but didn’t make his wealth off his music career alone. Carter amassed approximately $500 million from his 14 No. 1 albums before taxes, but a large portion of his wealth comes from his business ventures, according to Forbes. He established a clothing line that he sold to Iconix for $204 million in 2007, and co-owns cognac brand D’Ussé, in addition to owning music streaming service Tidal.
Jay-Z, 50, bought Tidal for $56 million in 2015. In 2017, Sprint became a stakeholder of the company with 33% at $200 million, and which pitched the company’s worth at $600 million. Jay-Z’s stake in the company is worth $100 million, Forbes reported in 2019.
Jay-Z also has a private art collection worth $70 million, a stake in Uber worth $70 million, and he owns $50 million in real estate, according to Forbes.
