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Forbes has released its annual World’s Billionaire list and Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote is the richest black man on the planet.
Only a handful of the 2,781 billionaires on the list were black. Robert F. Smith is the highest-ranking black American, with an estimated net worth of $9.2B. David Steward is another black American who made it into the top 1000.
Still, Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, and Jay-Z made the top five in the World’s Celebrity Billionaires 2024 list. Michael Jordan, who made most of his wealth from endorsement deals with Nike, Hanes, and Gatorade, is worth $3.2B.
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Media mogul Oprah Winfrey’s worth increased to $2.8B from $2.5B at the end of 2023. Hip-hop’s first billionaire, Jay-Z, maintained his $2.5B worth despite selling most of his stake in D’Usse to Bacardi in February 2023. He also owns stakes in thriving companies like Uber and Block.
Other black celebrities who leveraged their star power to amass wealth are Tyler Perry, Rihanna, Tiger Woods, LeBron James, and Magic Johnson.
With many markets up, the surge in wealth has made 265 people billionaires over the past year, up from 150 newcomers in 2023. Among the fresh faces are NBA legend and businessman Earvin “Magic” Johnson, with an estimated net worth of $1.2 billion, thanks to investments in professional sports teams, movie theaters, Starbucks franchises, real estate, and healthcare.
Bernard Arnault has retained his position as the wealthiest person in the world. His net worth rose to $233B in 2023 from $211B in 2023, putting the luxury goods magnate at the top for the second year.
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Serial entrepreneur Elon Musk ranked second, worth $195B, while Amazon’s chief Jeff Bezos ranked third at $194B. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg fortune soared by 176.56% despite finishing 2023 with $64.4B.
This year, 369 out of the 2,781 billionaires were women, up from 337 in 2023. Together, they are worth nearly $1.8 trillion, about $240 billion more than last year. Oprah Winfrey was the highest-ranking and only black woman on the list. The world’s richest woman for the fourth consecutive year is L’Oréal heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers. Her fortune jumped $19 billion in the past 12 months, putting her net worth at $99.5 billion, the biggest gain of any woman on the 2024 list, but just short of becoming the first woman to crack the swelling ranks of the $100 billion club.
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Once again, the United States has the most billionaire citizens, with a record-breaking 813 worth $5.7 trillion (compared to 735 worth $4.5 trillion in 2023). China remains second, despite troubles in the Asian nation, with 473 (including Hong Kong) worth $1.7 trillion. India, meanwhile, is surging. There are now 200 Indian billionaires, the most worth $954 billion.
Main Image: Robert F. Smith, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Vista Equity Partners, USA during the Session “Data Responsibility in a Fractured World” at the Annual Meeting 2018 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 25, 2018. Copyright by World Economic Forum / Boris Baldinger (Flickr)
