5 Richest Black People in the World

Over the years, the list of the richest individuals has changed to include some black people making their marks in the world. These 3,311 individuals from different sectors make up 1% of the world’s total population. Collectively, they have about $11.8 trillion in wealth. Though their wealth is unstable, as of 2021, it increased by 18%.

Out of the continents, North America has 1,035 billionaires, making it the region with the highest number of billionaires, collectively having $4.6 trillion. 975 billionaires are from the United States of America. Together, the billionaires in the US own $4.45 trillion. The remaining 60 billionaires are from Canada.

Europe follows with 954 ($3.1 trillion), Asia has 899 ($2.9 trillion), the Middle East has 191 ($519 billion), Latin America and the Caribbean has 146 ($465 billion), Africa has 46 ($104 billion), and the Pacific has 40 ($89illion).

Though Africa has 46 billionaires, they are spread across the world. Here are some of the individuals.

Aliko Dangote

Aliko Dangote is a Nigerian entrepreneur and the richest black man in the world. He made his wealth from the manufacturing sector after pivoting from importing to producing. 

He said, “Manufacture, don’t just trade. There is money in manufacturing even though it is capital intensive. To achieve a big breakthrough, I had to start manufacturing the same product I was trading on, which is commodities.”

This has seen him found the 41 years old Dangote Cement, one of Africa’s biggest cement manufacturing companies. Currently, he is worth about $18.8 billion, owning 85% of Dangote cement.

Though he made his money from cement production, he is also a diversified entrepreneur with companies in sectors such as food production, fertiliser production, and oil and gas. The success of his newly launched Dangote fertiliser plant has seen it find its way into international markets such as the U.S., Brazil and India.

Dangote’s ambition saw him also delve into the oil and gas sector. By 2023, he is expected to launch the Dangote oil and gas refinery. He said, “If you don’t have ambition, you shouldn’t be alive.”

Robert F. Smith

Robert F. Smith is a US entrepreneur and one of the richest black people in the world, making billions in the finance space. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Vista Equity Partners, a private equity firm. Founded in 2000, the twenty-two years old company is now worth about $93 billion in assets. The Black Enterprise magazine has it that since the company’s inception to 2020, the firm has been generating a 30% return on investment. This consistency saw the company become the fourth largest enterprise software company after Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP in 2019.

With this achievement, Smith does not hesitate to give back to people. One notable event was during the 2019 Morehouse College commencement speech. He paid off the student debt of the entire graduating class, which was about $34 million in debt. 

Apart from the monetary support, he advises the coming entrepreneurs never to relent. He said, “You got to have grit. And grit means getting turned away from things 14, 16 times, calling someone every two weeks, every day for five months and then finally materialising into something you want.”

This proven method worked for him when he wanted to intern at Bell Labs. He called the company every week for five months before he secured an internship. Currently, he is worth about $11.9 billion.

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David Steward $5.01 billion

David Steward is one of the African American billionaire entrepreneurs dominating the tech space. He started his entrepreneurial journey in 1990 when he founded World Wide Technology (WWT), a telecommunication company. The company’s success saw its expansion to the sales domain with the creation of Telcobuy.com. 

The merger of the two companies in 2003 made it a billion-dollar company with the parent name World Wide Technology Holding Company. Yearly, the company has made $11 billion. As of 2018, it generated $13.4 billion in revenue. The company also works with companies such as Citi, Verizon, and the federal government. Steward is worth $5.01 billion because he is the majority company owner.

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods is a professional 15 times champion golfer, worth $1.7 billion in earnings and endorsements. Despite the car accident that injured him in 2021, the all-time champion made a comeback during the Masters in April 2022.

One of the remarkable moments in his career was when he scored a victory from his hospital bed during a game. This earned him an adaptation of him to the PGA Tour 2K video game franchise.

LeBron James

LeBron James is a basketball legend who has had unprecedented success since his career onset. Apart from being a legend in sports, he has moved into different ventures that have seen him attain the $1.2 billion milestone.

He made his billionaire status from earnings such as NBA earnings, endorsements and earnings from Springhill Entertainment Company. Some of the Springhill Entertainment productions he featured are projects like Survivor’s Remorse, Self Made, and Space Jam: A New Legacy. From this, he built a school for underprivileged kids.

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