In America, there exists a large wealth gap, which is the highest among G7 nations. It has become a popular talking point for politicians such as Bernie Sanders. According to Federal Reserve data (Q4 2023), the richest 1% of Americans owns 53-54% of stock and mutual funds. While the top 1% owns over 30% of the nation’s wealth, the bottom 50% holds only 2.6%.
It is no secret that this wealth gap is often even wider between blacks and whites. As of the 2022 Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, the median Black household held about one-sixth the wealth of the median White household — an improvement from one-tenth in 2019. The wealth gap expanded during the 2010s but narrowed slightly from 2019 to 2022, according to the latest Federal Reserve data.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Black-owned employer businesses grew 14% between 2019 and 2022 — the fastest increase in at least 25 years. Additionally, the list of black billionaires continues to grow. We consulted the Forbes World’s Billionaires List 2024 to detail the top 10 wealthiest black people in America.
This post was updated on October 8, 2025 to clarify America’s status in countries with high wealth gaps, the 15-year history of the U.S. wealth gap between black and white families, David Steward’s net worth, and Tope Awotona’s net worth.
Why We Are Talking About This
The success stories of African American billionaires can be inspirational not only for aspiring Black entrepreneurs but for people of any ethnic background. They show that success is possible no matter what obstacles are thrown in our paths. We can also see that, while movies, music, and sports have been areas of opportunity for many successful African Americans, others have reached the top of their game in business and technology. Recognizing this can help everyone from investors to hiring managers to coworkers appreciate the potential of people of color to become profit powerhouses.
10. Tyler Perry ($1 billion)
Tyler Perry got his big break playing the role of Madea, a cantankerous elderly woman, on the stage and in numerous films.
Tyler Perry made his fortune as a playwright, actor, and film producer, achieving breakout success with the play I Can Do Bad All by Myself (1999) and the 2005 film Diary of a Mad Black Woman. Perry purchased Fort McPherson, a former military base near Atlanta, and transformed it into one of the largest movie studios in the country. The television series The Walking Dead is filmed there.
9. LeBron James ($1 billion)
Nicknamed “King James,” the L.A. Lakers’ Lebron James is considered one of the greatest talents in basketball.
Lebron James is a legendary NBA player for the Los Angeles Lakers and widely considered one of the best basketball players in history. He has competed in 10 NBA Finals and won two Olympic gold medals. He is the leading scorer in NBA history and is fourth in career assists. Lebron’s fortune comes from diversified sources. He has inked endorsement agreements with numerous brands, including PepsiCo, Nike, Kia, and Intel. His investment in Beats by Dre netted him $30 million when Apple bought the company. He has also produced films and music albums and founded Hana Kuma, a media content company.
By all indications, he’s starting a dynasty: his son Bronny signed with the Lakers in July 2024, making them not only the first father-son duo to play together for the NBA but on the same team as well.
8. Tiger Woods ($1.1 billion)
Of mixed ancestry, Tiger Woods has described himself as “Cablinasian”—Caucasian-Black-American Indian-Asian.
Tiger Woods is a record-breaking professional golfer who is tied for first in PGA Tour wins (82) and has won 18 World Golf Championships. Through prize money and product sponsorships, Woods became the first professional athlete in the world to earn over a billion dollars in his career.
7. Tope Awotona ($1.4 billion)
A naturalized American from Nigeria, Tope Awontona founded Calendly, a user-friendly meeting scheduling app widely used in businesses of all sizes.
Tope Awotona immigrated to Atlanta with his family at 12 years old. Enrolling in the University of Georgia after high school, he studied computer science and business administration. He worked for IBM and other corporations before joining Perceptive Software as a sales representative. Frustrated by the difficulty of setting up appointments with potential clients, he poured his life savings into developing a new app called Calendly. In the course of 11 years, the app has won 10 million users and is now valued at $3 billion. This makes Awotona one of the richest immigrants in the United States.
6. Alexander Karp ($1.9 billion)
Son of an African American mother and Jewish father, Dr. Alexander Karp has excelled in multiple fields. Alexander Karp suffered from dyslexia but that didn’t stop him from earning his JD degree from Stanford and a Ph.D from Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. He went on to become a researcher at the Sigmund Freud Institute in Frankfurt. Unlike most of the other billionaires on our list, Karp received an inheritance from his grandfather which he invested in startups. After proving successful at investing, he started the Caedmon Group, a money management firm in London that managed wealth for high-income people. In 2004 he became a co-founder of Palantir Technologies, a company that works with software platforms for data analytics.
5. Jay-Z ($2.5 billion)
Jay-Z is undoubtedly the most successful rapper in terms of musical acclaim, wealth, and cultural influence.
His real name is Shawn Corey Carter, but you know him as the one and only “Jay-Z.” Born in New York City in 1969, he was at the forefront of the early development of rap music starting in the 1980s. To date, he has sold 140 million records, won 24 Grammy Awards, and had 14 number one albums on the Billboard 200, the most of any artist. What has really sent his net worth through the roof, though, is his business acumen. He founded Rocawear (a clothing retailer), 40/40 Club (a chain of exclusive bars), and Roc Nation (an entertainment agency). In 2015 he purchased Aspiro and grew its media streaming service, Tidal. On top of all his other accomplishments, Jay-Z is the first rapper to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
4. Oprah Winfrey ($2.8 billion)
Oprah Winfrey achieved nationwide fame on her popular talk show that could make millions of people feel like she was their personal friend.
The only female on this top 10 list, Oprah Winfrey is one of the most famous Black actresses, television personalities, and filmmakers. The Oprah Winfrey Show ran for 25 years and endeared Oprah to millions of fans with her compassionate, charismatic approach to sensitive issues. She built on her television success by launching O magazine, Harpo Productions, and the Oprah Winfrey Network. In addition to her acting roles, she has produced numerous successful films that have raised the profile of African Americans and issues relevant to them. Her name has even been suggested as a U.S. presidential candidate, an ambition she rejects. However, she can be politically influential when she wants to be—her endorsement of Barack Obama is estimated to have won him an extra 1 million votes in the 2008 primaries.
3. Michael Jordan ($3 billion)
After spending much of his career with the Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan played for the Washington Wizards from 2001-2003
Michael Jordan needs no introduction. Winning six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls, Jordan became a household name and popularized basketball internationally. His near-supernatural leaping ability got him the nickname “Air Jordan” and won him a lucrative deal with Nike to sell sneakers of the same name. He starred as himself in the 1996 film Space Jam and is the owner of 23XI Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. In 2016 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in view of his outstanding contributions.
2. David Steward ($6.6 billion)
David and Thelma Steward have been married nearly 50 years.
David Steward (born 1951) founded St. Louis-based World Wide Technology. The company provides services in cloud computing, cybersecurity, computer networking, artificial intelligence, cell phone carrier networking, and associated technologies. It employs over 9,000 people and is the 27th largest private American company with an annual revenue of $17 billion.
1. Robert F. Smith ($9.2 billion)
Robert F. Smith is the richest African American in the world.
Born in 1962, Robert F. Smith is the founder of Vista Equity Partners, a private equity firm. A graduate of Cornell University in chemical engineering and Columbia with an MBA, Michigan he got his start as an investment banker with Goldman Sachs. To the joy of the 2019 graduating class of Morehouse College, he pledged to pay off the entire student loan debt of $34 million for each and every graduate. No doubt he’s earned a standing invitation to give commencement speeches every year!
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