Their combined net worth is more than $121 billion.
From left, Oprah Winfrey, Rihanna, Tyler Perry and Michael Jordan are four of the world’s 27 Black billionaires, according to Forbes. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times; Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP; Nina Westervelt/The New York Times; Thibault Camus/AP)
There are 3,428 billionaires in the world as of March 1 this year, according to Forbes.
Each year, the financial magazine tallies its list of the world’s billionaires using a snapshot of financial information, including the latest stock prices, exchange rates, assets and more. This year saw the number of billionaires worldwide reach an all-time high, and they are richer than ever. They are worth a combined $20.1 trillion.
Of the more than 3,400 billionaires in the world, only 27 are Black. That’s fewer than 1%. Most earned their fortunes in finance, entertainment or technology, and their combined net worth is upwards of $121 billion. Of those 27, only three are women.
As of 2026, here are the world’s 27 Black billionaires:
1. Aliko Dangote: $28.5 billion
Dangote’s wealth comes primarily from the company he founded and chairs, Dangote Cement. He owns 85% of the publicly traded company, which is Africa’s largest cement producer.
He is the richest Black person in the world, and ranks #86 on the overall Forbes billionaires list.
2. Alexander Karp: $13.4 billion
Karp is the co-founder and CEO of data mining firm Palantir Technologies. The company has worked with government agencies across the globe, including the U.S. Department of Defense and the Danish National Police, as well as private clients like Airbus and Morgan Stanley.
He is the richest Black American.
3. David Steward: $12.4 billion
Steward is co-founder and chairman of World Wide Technology, an information technology provider he launched in 1999 whose customers include Citi, Verizon and the federal government.
The company now has more than 14,000 employees and services clients across six continents.
4. Abdulsamad Rabiu: $11.2 billion
Rabiu is the founder, chairman and CEO of BUA Group, a Nigerian conglomerate with interests in cement production, sugar refining, real estate, steel, port concessions and packaged foods.
5. Robert F. Smith: $10 billion
Smith made his fortune through the private equity firm, Vista Equity Partners, which he founded in 2000. In 2019, Smith announced his family was providing a grant to eliminate the student debt of the entire Morehouse College Class of 2019.
After that gift, he founded the Student Freedom Initiative, a nonprofit that offers low-cost loans and potential debt forgiveness for students from partner Minority-Serving Institutions. The initiative hosted its inaugural benefit concert in Atlanta in March.
6. Mike Adenuga: $6.5 billion
Adenuga built his fortune in telecommunications and oil. He is the founder of Conoil Producing, an oil exploration company, and Globacom, a Nigerian mobile phone network that is the third-largest operator in the country.
7. Michael Jordan: $4.3 billion
NBA great Jordan earned about $90 million in wages during his playing career, but he generated the majority of his wealth from deals with companies like Nike, Hanes and Gatorade. He also co-owns a NASCAR team and has a minority stake in the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets.
8. Patrice Motsepe: $4.3 billion
Motsepe’s wealth comes from mining. He is the founder and chairman of African Rainbow Minerals, which extracts a variety of ores and metals primarily in South Africa. He became a billionaire in 2008 and was the first Black African to appear on the Forbes list.
9. Oprah Winfrey: $3.2 billion
Winfrey turned her hit talk show into a media, entertainment and business empire. In 2011, she launched her own cable channel, OWN. She sold most of her stake in the channel to Warner Bros. Discovery in 2020. She also has a vast real estate portfolio, including 2,100 acres of land in Hawaii.
10. Jay-Z: $2.8 billion
In 2019, Jay-Z became hip-hop’s first billionaire. His business empire is vast, including alcohol brands Ace of Spades and D’Usse, entertainment company Roc Nation and private equity firm Marcy Venture Partners.
In 2024, MVP merged with the investment arm of another Black-owned firm, Pendulum Holdings. The combined company became MarcyPen Capital Partners and has expanded its investments, adding an arm in Asia. Recently, the firm invested in direct-to-consumer brand Quince.
11. Adebayo Ogunlesi: $2.5 billion
Twenty years ago, Ogunlesi co-founded New York-based private equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners, which he grew to more than $100 million in assets under management.
In 2024, GIP was acquired by asset management firm BlackRock for $12.5 billion. Ogunlesi still serves as GIP’s chairman and CEO, as well as a senior director at BlackRock.
12. David Grain: $2.3 billion
Grain founded private equity firm Grain Management in 2007. The firm invests in internet and telecommunications projects and has roughly $6 billion in assets, according to Forbes. This is Grain’s first year on the billionaire list.
13. Strive Masiyiwa: $2.1 billion
Masiyiwa founded mobile phone network Econet Wireless Zimbabwe in 1998, which is now a part of his larger Econet Group, a telecom and technology conglomerate that operates through Africa, Asia and South America.
He is also a board member for Netflix and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
14. Magic Johnson: $1.6 billion
One of the all-time NBA greats, Earvin “Magic” Johnson earned roughly $40 million playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. But in his post-playing days, he’s forged a business empire that’s made him a billionaire, primarily through joint venture partnerships — and Atlanta is a central part of that portfolio.
SodexoMagic, a joint venture between food services giant Sodexo and Johnson, is a major player at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport, running dining services for the American Express Centurion Lounge and the American Airlines Admirals Club. SodexoMagic also has longstanding relationships with Delta Air Lines and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
15. Tiger Woods: $1.5 billion
Woods is one of the world’s greatest golfers, and one of only two active athletes to cross the billion-dollar net worth line during their playing career, alongside LeBron James. Most of his wealth comes from sport and endorsement deals, including with Nike and EA Sports.
16. Herriot Tabuteau: $1.5 billion
Tabuteau is a pharmaceutical entrepreneur, founding Axsome Therapeutics in 2012 with the goal of developing treatments for neurological and psychiatric conditions, including major depressive disorder, migraines, fibromyalgia and Alzheimer’s disease. He took Axsome public in 2015.
17. Tope Awotona: $1.4 billion
Awotona is the CEO of scheduling platform Calendly, one of the few Atlanta startups to be valued at or above $1 billion. He founded the company in 2013. He is also a graduate of the University of Georgia.
18. LeBron James: $1.4 billion
James is one of only two active athletes to cross the billion-dollar net worth line during their playing career, alongside Tiger Woods. Forbes estimates he has earned upwards of $500 million in wages from the NBA, but the majority of his wealth comes from business ventures and endorsement deals with companies including Nike.
19. Tyler Perry: $1.4 billion
Perry is an actor, director, producer and screenwriter. The media mogul first came to Atlanta for Freaknik, financed plays with his life savings and eventually grossed more than $500 million at the box office for his films, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reported.
Perry also converted 330 acres of former Army post Fort McPherson in southwest Atlanta into one of the largest studios in the United States.
20. Mohammed Ibrahim: $1.3 billion
Ibrahim is the founder Celtel International, a pioneer in mobile phone service for Africa and the Middle East that he launched in 1998. Seven years after its founding, he sold the company for $3.4 billion, personally earning $1.4 billion from the deal, according to Forbes. He is now chairman of the board of private equity fund Satya Capital.
21. Stefan Kaluzny: $1.3 billion
Kaluzny founded private equity firm Sycamore Partners in 2011. The firm focuses on consumer, distribution and retail-related investments. In 2025, Sycamore acquired pharmacy giant Walgreens Boots Alliance in a deal valued up to $23.7 billion. This is Kaluzny’s first year on the billionaire list.
22. Femi Otedola: $1.3 billion
Otedola made his fortune in commodities and energy. In 2007, he acquired a majority stake in an oil company that was once British Petroleum in Nigeria. In 2019 he sold his stake in the oil business, then turned his focus to Geregu Power, a power generation company. In 2025, he sold his stake in Geregu, earning roughly $750 million from the deal, according to Forbes.
23. Sheila Johnson: $1.2 billion
Johnson launched cable network Black Entertainment Television in 1980 with her then-husband, Robert Johnson. BET was the first Black-owned company traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The two sold the channel to Viacom in late 2000 in a deal valued at about $2.5 billion at the time. The acquisition made her America’s first Black female billionaire. She then founded luxury hotel company Salamander Hotels & Resorts.
24. Dr. Dre: $1 billion
Legendary hip-hop rapper, producer and executive, much of Dr. Dre’s wealth comes from his record label, Aftermath Entertainment that boasts stars like Eminem and Kendrick Lamar, and Beats by Dre headphones. He and his co-founder sold the Beats brand to Apple in 2014 for more than $3 billion, but this is the first year he has cracked into the ranks of billionaires.
25. Robert Johnson: $1 billion
Johnson launched cable network Black Entertainment Television in 1980 with his then-wife, Sheila Johnson. BET was the first Black-owned company traded on the New York Stock Exchange. He was the first Black billionaire to make the Forbes 400 list.
He went on to found the RLJ Companies, a group of businesses ranging from hotels to 401(k) financial technology to car dealerships.
26. Beyoncé Knowles-Carter: $1 billion
Beyoncé is a newcomer to the ranks of billionaires. Most of her wealth comes from her performing career, starting with Destiny’s Child in the 1990s. She also has expanded into a variety of business ventures including athleisure brand Ivy Park, in collaboration with Adidas, and hair care brand Cécred.
27. Rihanna: $1 billion
Rihanna’s wealth comes primarily from Fenty Beauty, which she co-owns with French luxury powerhouse LVMH. Her business empire also includes sleepwear and lingerie brand Savage X Fenty.
Mirtha Donastorg is a reporter on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s business team focusing on Black wealth, entrepreneurship, and minority-owned businesses as well as innovation at Atlanta’s HBCUs.
