Money
Ranked: The World’s Black Billionaires in 2021
The World’s Black Billionaires in 2021
Black billionaires make up fewer than 1% of all billionaires worldwide. Who are the select few who made it into the ranks of the world’s richest people?
In this graphic, we used the Forbes real-time billionaire list to highlight the most financially successful Black people, and the source(s) of their wealth.
Black Billionaires, Ranked
The data is as of February 24, 2021, and includes bi/multi racial individuals with Black ancestry. Altogether, there are 15 Black billionaires with a combined wealth of $48.9 billion.
Here is the how the full list breaks down:
Rank | Name | Net Worth | Citizenship | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Aliko Dangote | $11.5B | Nigeria | Cement, sugar |
2 | Mike Adenuga | $6.1B | Nigeria | Telecom, oil |
3 | Robert F. Smith | $5.2B | United States | Private equity |
4 | Abdulsamad Rabiu | $4.8B | Nigeria | Cement, sugar |
5 | David Steward | $3.7B | United States | IT provider |
6 | Patrice Motsepe | $3.1B | South Africa | Mining |
7 | Alexander Karp | $3.0B | United States | Software firm |
8 | Oprah Winfrey | $2.6B | United States | TV shows |
9 | Michael Jordan | $1.6B | United States | Charlotte Hornets, endorsements |
10 | Michael Lee-Chin | $1.5B | Canada | Mutual funds |
11 | Strive Masiyiwa | $1.4B | Zimbabwe | Telecom |
12 | Kanye West | $1.3B | United States | Music, sneakers |
13 | Mohammed Ibrahim | $1.1B | United Kingdom | Communications |
14 | Shawn Carter (Jay-Z) | $1.0B | United States | Music, multiple |
15 | Tyler Perry | $1.0B | United States | Movies, television |
Aliko Dangote is the richest Black billionaire, and has held the title since 2013. He owns 85% of publicly-traded Dangote Cement, Africa’s largest cement producer. The company’s stock price went up more than 30% over the last year. In addition, Dangote also has investments in salt and sugar manufacturing companies.
The fifth richest Black person, David Steward, owns the technology solutions provider World Wide Technology. Steward had decided he wanted to be part of the technological revolution and founded the company in 1990, before the first internet browser had even been created. The company has since grown to be the largest Black-owned business in America with over $13.4 billion in annual revenue and more than 7,000 employees.
Best known for his music career, Shawn Carter, more commonly known as Jay-Z, is number 14 on the list. However, the rapper’s wealth goes far beyond his music. Jay-Z has built a diversified business empire, including investments in a fine art collection, an entertainment company, a clothing line, and alcohol brands. He recently sold half of his champagne brand to LVMH, the parent company of Dom Pérignon.
Unequal Representation
Unfortunately, little progress has been made with regards to the proportion of Black billionaires. Since 2011, Black billionaires have made up fewer than 1% of all billionaires worldwide.
In absolute numbers, the total number of billionaires rose by over 1,100 while the number of Black billionaires rose by just nine people.
The number of Black billionaires also falls very short of being representative of the general population. For example, only 8 or 1.2% of America’s 665 billionaires are Black. By contrast, Black people make up 12.2% of the U.S. population.
Breaking Through Barriers
There is still a large racial wealth gap between Black people and White people—even at the highest levels of financial achievement. However, despite these racial and systemic barriers, 14 of the 15 Black billionaires are self-made, meaning they built their wealth from the ground up. Who will be next to join the ranks?
“Innovation doesn’t happen without a person of color or a diversity of thought being at the table in order to challenge the status quo.”
—David Steward
Money
Mapped: Where Do the Wealthiest People in the World Live?
There are over 600,000 individuals worldwide with a net worth surpassing $30 million, representing the wealthiest people on the planet. Here’s where they live.
Where Do the Wealthiest People in the World Live?
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
Investors didn’t expect 2023 to be the bumper year for returns it ended up being. Despite tightening monetary policies and surging bond yields, equities continued their strong performance (helped hugely by enthusiasm around the potential of artificial intelligence).
This has boosted wealth creation, and the growth of ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWIs) in the world.
We map out where the 600,000+ UHNWIs reside, as of the end 2023. To be categorized as such, a person’s net worth needs to be higher than $30 million. This map uses data from the Knight Frank Wealth Report 2024.
It’s worth noting that some countries that are known hotspots for the wealthy—including Belgium, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Russia—do not have specified numbers in the source report and have not been covered in this map and article.
Ranked: Countries By Number of Ultra Wealthy Individuals
At the top of the ranks, accounting for more than one-third of the wealthiest in the world, the U.S. is home to 225,000 UHNWIs, more than double the number of 99,000 UHNWIs in China.
Together, the world’s two largest economies are home to 50% of the world’s wealthiest.
Rank | Territory | UHNWI Population | YoY Growth | % of World UHNWIs |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 🇺🇸 U.S. | 225,077 | +7.9% | 35.9% |
2 | 🇨🇳 China | 98,551 | +3.3% | 15.7% |
3 | 🇩🇪 Germany | 29,021 | +1.1% | 4.6% |
4 | 🇨🇦 Canada | 27,928 | +2.0% | 4.5% |
5 | 🇫🇷 France | 24,941 | +0.2% | 4.0% |
6 | 🇬🇧 UK | 23,072 | +3.1% | 3.7% |
7 | 🇯🇵 Japan | 21,710 | +0.3% | 3.5% |
8 | 🇮🇹 Italy | 15,952 | +3.8% | 2.5% |
9 | 🇦🇺 Australia | 15,347 | +2.9% | 2.4% |
10 | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | 14,734 | +5.2% | 2.4% |
11 | 🇮🇳 India | 13,263 | +6.1% | 2.1% |
12 | 🇪🇸 Spain | 10,149 | +1.7% | 1.6% |
13 | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 8,390 | +0.2% | 1.3% |
14 | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | 7,640 | -0.3% | 1.2% |
15 | 🇰🇷 South Korea | 7,310 | +5.6% | 1.2% |
16 | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong | 5,957 | +2.5% | 1.0% |
17 | 🇸🇬 Singapore | 4,783 | +4.0% | 0.8% |
18 | 🇸🇪 Sweden | 4,125 | +2.5% | 0.7% |
19 | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | 2,587 | +2.9% | 0.4% |
20 | 🇳🇴 Norway | 2,276 | +1.1% | 0.4% |
21 | 🇦🇹 Austria | 2,167 | +0.3% | 0.3% |
22 | 🇹🇷 Türkiye | 1,932 | +9.7% | 0.3% |
23 | 🇮🇪 Ireland | 1,890 | +0.4% | 0.3% |
24 | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | 1,479 | +4.2% | 0.2% |
25 | 🇫🇮 Finland | 1,269 | +4.1% | 0.2% |
26 | 🇹🇭 Thailand | 889 | +0.8% | 0.1% |
27 | 🇿🇦 South Africa | 835 | -1.3% | 0.1% |
28 | 🇵🇹 Portugal | 800 | +3.0% | 0.1% |
29 | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | 754 | +4.3% | 0.1% |
30 | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | 752 | +2.4% | 0.1% |
N/A | 🌐 Other | 51,039 | +0.1% | 8.1% |
N/A | 🌍 World | 626,619 | +4.2% | N/A |
Note: The organization uses a dynamic proprietary wealth-sizing model created by their data engineering team to arrive at these figures. Exact numbers may change between different editions of this report.
Ranked third, Germany, has close to 30,000 UHNWIs, following the pattern of the biggest economic powerhouses having the highest share of the wealthy.
This correlation remains generally constant outside the top three as well, even if exact positions aren’t quite maintained:
- Canada, 10th largest economy, 4th in share of wealthiest people.
- Australia, 14th largest economy, 9th in wealthiest people.
- Switzerland, 20th largest economy, 10th in wealthiest people.
- India, 6th largest economy, 11th in wealthiest people.
Together, these top countries by share of UHNWIs account for 92% of all individuals with a net worth greater than $30 million.
Other countries, not specifically mentioned in the report, have 59,039 UHNWIs, or 8.1% of the world’s total.
Ranked: Regions By Number of Ultra Wealthy Individuals
Unsurprisingly, buoyed by the U.S. and China, North America and Asia are the top two regions by wealthiest individuals.
Europe is close behind Asia however; a reminder of the region’s collective economic might.
Rank | Region | UHNWI Population | YoY Growth |
---|---|---|---|
1 | North America | 253,066 | +7.2% |
2 | Asia | 165,442 | +2.6% |
3 | Europe | 155,232 | +1.8% |
4 | Middle East | 18,790 | +6.2% |
5 | Oceania | 17,934 | +2.9% |
6 | South America | 13,159 | -3.6% |
7 | Africa | 2,996 | +3.8% |
The oil-rich Middle East also outperforms on the wealthy individuals metric and saw the highest YoY growth in the ultra-wealthy after North America.
The world as a whole grew its UHNWI population by 4.2% and only South America saw a contraction in numbers between 2022 and 2023.
Where Does This Data Come From?
Source: Knight Frank Wealth Report 2024.
Note: Some countries that are known hotspots for the wealthy, including Belgium, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Russia have not been specified by the source report, and thus do not appear on this map.
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