Black billionaires

Aliko Dangote, the world's wealthiest Black person

Oprah Winfrey at the White House in 2010, the first female black or Afro-multiracial billionaire and the only black billionaire from 2004 to 2006

According to Forbes 2013 ranking of the world's billionaires, Nigerian business magnate Aliko Dangote with a net worth of $16.1 billion is the world's richest black person.^[1] The other Blacks on the list are Nigeria's Mike Adenuga with $4.7 billion,^[2] South African gold magnate Patrice Motsepe with $2.9 billion, and American Oprah Winfrey at $2.8 billion.

From 2001 to 2003, Forbes listed American television network executive Bob Johnson as a billionaire,^[3] but dropped him after his fortune was split in his divorce.^[4] He returned to Forbes Billionaire list in 2007 with a net worth of $1.1 billion. In 2008 Johnson's wealth dropped again, this time to approximately $1.0 billion ^[5] and by 2009 he fell off the list again.

Nigerian petroleum executive Femi Otedola briefly emerged as a billionaire in 2009, but has not been listed in the following years.^[6]

Multiracial billionaires with partial Black ancestry have also been identified over the years. Saudi Arabian billionaire Mohammed Al Amoudi, of Hadhrami Yemeni and Ethiopian descent, has been on the Forbes billionaire list since 2002 and in 2012 had a net worth of $12.5 billion.^[7] Also included is Mo Ibrahim, a British billionaire of Sudanese Arab and Nubian ancestry,^[8] who has been on the Forbes Billionaire list since 2008 and in 2012 had a net worth of $1.1 billion.^[9]Michael Lee-Chin of Canada, who is Jamaican of Chinese and Black ancestry was on the list from 2001 to 2010, but dropped off in 2011.^[10] In 2013 Isabel Dos Santos who is of both Black and Middle Eastern ancestry made the list with a $2 billion net worth. However as there are competing claims as to what degree multiracial individuals should be considered Black, these individuals have not been universally regarded as being Black billionaires.

Of all the Black or Afro-multiracial billionaires identified by Forbes, only Oprah Winfrey qualified for Forbes 2009's list of the world's 20 most powerful billionaires, a list which considered not only wealth, but also market sway and political clout. Winfrey was considered especially powerful because of her influence on American consumer choices and her pivotal role in getting Barack Obama elected.^[11]

Members

Number of black billionaires, Afro-multiracial billionaires, and all billionaires by year (wealth valuations by Forbes magazine at the time their international billionaire list is released each year)
Year	Number of Black billionaires	Number of Afro-multiracial billionaires	Number of all billionaires
1996	0	0	423, Richest: Bill Gates $18.5 billion
1997	0	0	224, Richest: Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah $38 billion
1998	0	0	209, Richest: Bill Gates $51 billion
1999	0	0	298, Richest: Bill Gates $55 billion
2000	0	0	322, Richest: Bill Gates $60 billion
2001	1: Bob Johnson $1.6 billion	1: Michael Lee-Chin $1 billion[12]	538, Richest: Bill Gates $58.7 billion
2002	1: Bob Johnson $1 billion	2: Mohammad Al Amoudi $1.5 billion Michael Lee-Chin $1.1 billion[13]	497, Richest: Bill Gates $52.8 billion
2003	2: Bob Johnson $1.2 billion Oprah Winfrey $1 billion[14]	2: Mohammad Al Amoudi $1.5 billion Michael Lee-Chin $1.4 billion[15]	476, Richest: Bill Gates $40.7 billion
2004	1: Oprah Winfrey $1.1 billion	2: Michael Lee-Chin $2.4 billion Mohammad Al Amoudi $1.4 billion[16]	587, Richest: Bill Gates $46.6 billion
2005	1: Oprah Winfrey $1.3 billion	2: Michael Lee-Chin $2.5 billion Mohammad Al Amoud $2.5 billioni	691, Richest: Bill Gates $46.5 billion
2006	1, Oprah Winfrey $1.4 billion	2: Mohammad Al Amoudi $6.9 billion Michael Lee-Chin $2.1 billion[17]	793, Richest: Bill Gates $50 billion
2007	2: Oprah Winfrey $1.5 billion Bob Johnson $1.1 billion[18]	2: Mohammad Al Amoudi $8 billion Michael Lee-Chin $1.6 billion[19]	946, Richest: Bill Gates $56 billion
2008	4: Aliko Dangote $3.3 billion Oprah Winfrey $2.5 billion[20] Patrice Motsepe $2.4 billion[21] Bob Johnson $1 billion [5]	3: Mohammad Al Amoudi $9 billion Mo Ibrahim $2.5 billion [22] Michael Lee-Chin $1.8 billion[23]	1,125, Richest: Warren Buffet $62 billion
2009	4: Oprah Winfrey $2.7 billion Aliko Dangote $2.5 billion Femi Otedola $1.6 billion Patrice Motsepe $1.3 billion	3: Mohammad Al Amoudi $9 billion Mo Ibrahim $2 billion [24] Michael Lee-Chin $1 billion[25]	793, Richest: Bill Gates $40 billion
2010	3: Oprah Winfrey $2.4 billion Patrice Motsepe $2.3 billion Aliko Dangote $2.1 billion	3: Mohammad Al Amoudi $10 billion Mo Ibrahim $2 billion [26] Michael Lee-Chin $1 billion[27]	1,011, Richest: Carlos Slim Helu & family $53.5 billion[28]
2011	4:Aliko Dangote $13.8 billion[2] Patrice Motsepe $3.3 billion Oprah Winfrey $2.7 billion Mike Adenuga $2 billion [2]	2: Mohammad Al Amoudi $12.3 billion Mo Ibrahim $1.8 billion [9]	1,210, Richest: Carlos Slim Helu & family $74 billion
2012 [1]	4:Aliko Dangote $11.2 billion[2] Mike Adenuga $4.3 billion [2] Patrice Motsepe $2.7 billion Oprah Winfrey $2.7 billion	2: Mohammad Al Amoudi $12.5 billion Mo Ibrahim $1.1 billion [9]	1,210, Richest: Carlos Slim Helu & family $69 billion [29]
2013	4:Aliko Dangote $16.1 billion[2] Mike Adenuga $4.7 billion Patrice Motsepe $2.9 billion Oprah Winfrey $2.8 billion	3: Mohammad Al Amoudi $13.5 billion Isabel Dos Santos $2 billion Mo Ibrahim $1.1 billion [9]	1,426, Richest: Carlos Slim Helu & family $73 billion

Michael Jackson

On February 6, 2003, Martin Bashir asked Michael Jackson how much he was worth, and Jackson replied "It's way up there." Bashir then asked, "A billion dollars?" to which Jackson replied "It's over there." Bashir asked for confirmation: "Over a billion dollars!" to which the star replied "Yes." When the interview was aired in the US, broadcaster Barbara Walters replied, saying, “As for his claim to be worth over a billion dollars,” Walters explained, “his actual worth is in the two or three hundred million range. That’s hardly bad, but it’s nowhere near a billion”.

There have also been several more detailed estimates of Jackson's net worth. At his richest, he may have been worth as much as $350 million:

Cultural reference

Billionaire Boys Club is a line of sportswear that is the brother company to A Bathing Ape founded by musician Pharrell Williams and designer Nigo with stores in New York City, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and London.

See also

• List of African-American firsts
• Lists of billionaires
• List of countries by the number of billionaires

References