Black Billionaires
This is a global list of Black African ancestry billionaires in U.S. dollars.
This list includes people of Black African ancestry who have achieved billionaire status in U.S. dollars. It is a testament to the hard work, dedication and ambition of these individuals, who have been able to break through barriers and achieve success in a world that often makes it hard for Black people to do so. It is also a reminder that anyone can achieve great things regardless of their race or background, if they are willing to put in the effort and never give up on their dreams.
Black Billionaires 2022 Gallery
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There are currently 19 known black billionaires in the world, representing 9 countries.
The 19 current billionaires on our list had aggregate wealth of ~ $62.9 billion, and a median age of 57 years (2022/11/26). Nigeria's Alhaji Aliko Dangote accounts for ~ 24% of that aggregate wealth. Black billionaires aggregate wealth represent less than one percent of the aggregate wealth of all billionaires.
Nigerian business magnate Alhaji Aliko Dangote with a net worth of $16.0 billion (2022/11/26), is currently the world's richest Black person. Forbes list his net worth at $12.9 billion and Bloomberg list it at $19.1 billion (as of 2022/11/26), we use the average of the two to estimate his net worth.
2021, marked 20 years since Robert L. Johnson and Michael Lee-Chin became the first Black people to be listed on Forbes magazines annual ranking of the World's Billionaires in 2001. Forbes mistakenly listed Mr. Johnson as the only Black billionaire not recognizing Mr. Lee-Chin as having Black ancestry.
Oprah Winfrey became the worlds first Black female billionaire in 2003 and remained the only female Black billionaire until 2013, when she was joined by Isabel dos Santos, Africa's first female billionaire and Folorunsho Alakija, Nigeria's first female billionaire.
In 2014, Michael Jordan became the first billionaire athlete. He was the forth-richest Black American, behind Robert F. Smith, David L. Steward and Oprah Winfrey.
2014 is also the year our list of 10 Black billionaires had peak aggregate wealth of $60.9 billion.
In June 2019, Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter was named the first hip hop artist to become a billionaire by Forbes.com.
On August 4, 2021, Rihanna was listed by Forbes magazine as officially becoming a billionaire. Ms. Fenty is the first Black billionaire borned and raised in Barbados. She's also the youngest known Black billionaire to date.
Black billionaires make up less than 1% of all billionaires worldwide. Collectively their wealth represents only ~32% of Spacex founder, Elon Musk net worth of $191 billion.
We recently added back Mohammed Al Amoudi to our billionaires list. Mr Al Amoudi was one of dozens of high-profile Saudis detained in a sweeping anti-corruption crackdown spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He was finally set free in January 2019 with no explanation for the reasons behind his detention or release. Ethopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appealed to the crown prince for his release.
Updated 2022/11/26.
Compiled using data from Forbes.com, Bloomberg.com and CanadianBusiness.com.
Black Billionaires by Country
| Flag | Country | # of Billionaires |
| 🇺🇲 | USA | 10 |
| 🇳🇬 | Nigeria | 3 |
| 🇿🇦 | South Africa | 1 |
| 🇯🇲 🇨🇦 | Jamaica/Canada | 1 |
| 🇧🇧 | Barbados | 1 |
| 🇿🇼 | Zimbabwe | 1 |
| 🏴 | United Kingdom | 1 |
| 🇪🇹 🇸🇦 | Ethiopia/Saudi Arabia | 1 |
Chart: Number of Black Billionaires Over Time
Chart: Black Billionaires Aggregate Wealth Over Time
Current Black Billionaires List
| Name | Age | Net Worth | Source | Industry | Country of Citizenship |
| Aliko Dangote | 64 | $14.00 | The Dangote Group | sugar, flour, cement | Nigeria |
| Mike Adenuga | 68 | $6.90 | Globacom | telcom, banking, oil | Nigeria |
| Robert Smith | 59 | $6.00 | Vista Equity Partners | Private equity | United States |
| Mohammed Al Amoudi | 56 | $5.38 | MIDROC, Corral Petroleum Holdings, Preem, Peab oil, diversified | Energy | Saudi Arabia |
| Abdulsamad Rabiu | 61 | $4.40 | BUA Group | Sugar, flour, cement | Nigeria |
| David L. Steward | 70 | $3.70 | World Wide Technology | Information Technology | United States |
| Patrice Motsepe | 60 | $3.00 | African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) | mining | South Africa |
| Oprah Winfrey | 68 | $2.60 | Harpo, Weight Watchers | Television | United States |
| Strive Masiyiwa | 61 | $2.10 | Econet Group, Liquid Telecom | Communications | Zimbabwe |
| Michael Lee-Chin | 71 | $2.00 | Investments, Mutual Funds | Communications, Banking | Jamaica, Canada |
| Robyn Rihanna Fenty | 34 | $1.70 | Fenty Beauty, Savage x Fenty | Fashion, Cosmetics, Music | Barbados, USA |
| Michael Jordan | 59 | $1.60 | Charlotte Hornets, NIKE, endorsements | Entertainment, Apparel | United States |
| Tope Awotona | 40 | $1.40 | Calendly | Software | United States |
| Shawn Jay-Z Carter | 52 | $1.30 | Roc-A-Fella Records, Rocawear, Armand de Brignac, D’Ussé, Tidal, Roc Nation | Music, Investments | United States |
| Mohammed Ibrahim | 75 | $1.20 | Celtel International, MSI Cellular | communications | United Kingdom |
| Alexander Karp | 54 | $1.10 | Palantir Technologies | Software, Investments | United States |
| Tyler Perry | 52 | $1.00 | The Tyler Perry Company Inc. | Film, Television | United States |
| LeBron James | 37 | $1.0 | Basketball, investments | Sports, media | United States |
| Tiger Woods | 46 | $1.0 | Golf, investments | Sports, media | United States |
As of 2022/11/26