The global black millionaires and the disparity in wealth across races

 The global black millionaires and the disparity in wealth across races

The third installment in a series on black billionaires—past, present, and future.

Given that discussions concerning the rapidly increasing concentration of wealth have dominated both political and economic discourse, it is worthwhile to examine the specifics of wealth within the billionaire class. However, billionaires of African heritage have received very little notice.

The Forbes billionaires list now include twenty-four individuals of African descent. Historically, the billionaire class has represented a fundamental accumulation of wealth that has been denied to people of African heritage. A worldwide military, political, and economic structure controlled by white countries defines the history of the 20th century. The 21st century, so far, tells a different tale: one of a gradual escape from mostly white economic domination.

Forbes reports that since 2001, there has been a notable surge in the number of African-American billionaires worldwide, with a high of 19 in 2021. Both Bob Johnson and Michael Lee-Chin, who amassed their wealth in North America, were the first African Americans to be included among the Forbes billionaires in 2001. Nine African-American billionaires reside in the United States. Mohammed Al Amoudi, a Saudi businessman, was included to Johnson & Lee-Chin's list in 2002 as a result of his investments in projects related to construction, energy, and agriculture in Ethiopia, Sweden, and Saudi Arabia. In 2003, Oprah Winfrey became the first woman of African origin to reach the billionaire status on the list. Forbes predicted that by 2023, there will only be 17 billionaires of African descent due to the depreciation of Folorunsho Alakija's oil assets and the removal of Mohammed Al Amoudi from the exclusive list after his incarceration with all other Saudi billionaires. In 2017, I visited Saudi Arabia due of corruption.

Globally, the number of Black billionaires in 2023

By 2005, the proportion of African-born black millionaires had significantly increased. Since the mid-2000s, in fact, the average wealth and total aggregate wealth of billionaires in Africa have surpassed those of billionaires in North America and Europe. This discrepancy may be explained by the kinds of businesses these billionaires invest and manage their fortune in. The overall wealth difference between African and North American billionaires is closing, nevertheless, as the graph below illustrates. This is most likely because of the two African American billionaires from the financial and technology industries, Robert Smith and David Steward, who are very wealthy. The total fortune of the other four Black entertainment millionaires is almost double that of Smith and Steward alone.

Black billionaires' net worth

Certain sectors have a disproportionate number of billionaires. The information and finance industry is what the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) designates as the source of wealth for a tiny majority of persons on the list. Production of media; creation of computer hardware, software, and websites; administration of hedge funds and private equity funds are all included in this industry.

Black billionaires' sources of money, broken down by year

Many of the people on the list are products of the entertainment, arts, and leisure industries. These people's main sources of income were their careers as sports or artists. His income was not the factor that maintained him on the billionaire list. Rather, his brand's power brought him agreements for product endorsements, which boosted his wealth. In 2016, Michael Jordan became a member of the list, exemplifying this tendency. Notably, two other individuals on the list—Robyn Fenty (Rihanna) and Kanye West—became billionaires via their fashion retail endeavors; nevertheless, the celebrities behind those fashion labels are singers and artists. stems from his celebrity position.

This investigation also brings to light another noteworthy fact: a large number of billionaires outside of North America, especially those from Africa and Arabia, have amassed their wealth via manufacturing, wholesale goods trading, or resource extraction. Nigeria's Aliko Dangote, who is believed to be worth around $11.5 billion, is the wealthiest person on the Forbes Black Billionaires list and he built his money in the area.

   Since 2005, Africa has been the continent with the greatest concentration of black millionaires. The number of black billionaires in Africa is expected to rise as long as the continent's economic conditions remain favorable, albeit there isn't any proof yet that this would be accompanied by better economic circumstances for the continent's population.