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Sep 4, 2020 · There are 614 billionaires in the United States, and only 7 of them are Black. Taylor Nicole Rogers. Updated. Sep 4, 2020, 8:29 AM PDT. Oprah Winfrey made a multimillion-dollar fortune from her ...
Nov 29, 2023 · Lauren Slagter. Posted: November 29, 2023 | Last updated: April 1, 2024. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic // Getty Images. Meet America's Black billionaires. They're entertainers, media moguls,...
- William Leidesdorff
- John Stanly
- Jeremiah Hamilton
- Mary Ellen Pleasant
- Robert Reed Church
- Madam C.J. Walker
- Daniel Murray
- Scholarship Around Black Capitalism
- The Bottom Line
William Alexander Leidesdorff (1810-1848) was likely America's first Black millionaire. Leidesdorff, who had immigrated to the U.S. from the Danish West Indies, owned the first steamship in San Francisco Bay. He also accomplished a list of other notable firsts, including setting up the first public school in California, as well as creating the firs...
John Carruthers Stanly (1774-1845) was a mixed-race former slave who himself became perhaps the biggest slaveowner in North Carolina. Upon being freed, Stanly became a barber, a relatively stable trade at that time. Eventually, he was able to purchase his wife and children's freedom. Stanly would come to own two plantations on Bachelor's Creek alon...
Jeremiah Hamilton (1806-1875), "Wall Street's first Black trader," made his fortune in New York in the 19th century. Not much is known about Hamilton's early life, but he immigrated to New York after fleeing Haiti, where he was helping to bring in counterfeit coins for a consortium of New York merchants. Litigious, secretive, and shrewd, Hamilton c...
Mary Ellen Pleasant (1815-1904) was the most powerful Black woman operating in San Francisco in the heat of California's Gold Rush. She may have been born a slave, but by the 1820s,she was living in New England and was involved with the Underground Railroad. While there, she married James Smith, who left her a significant amount of money upon his d...
Robert Reed Church, Sr. (1839-1912), was born to a White steamboat captain and an enslaved seamstress in Mississippi. Reed was enslaved after being captured while serving as a steward on the Victona steamer during the Civil War. After being freed, he settled in Memphis. He made his money primarily in real estate, but he also ran a hotel and other b...
The title of millionaire serves a financial, technical designation and also a cultural one. It denotes someone with an unusually high net worth who enjoys the freedoms and pleasures associated with that net worth. Madam C.J. Walker (1867-1919), who started life as a Louisiana sharecropper born to formerly enslaved parents in 1867, is usually cited ...
Daniel A.P. Murray (1852-1925) was a librarian at the Library of Congress for more than a half-century. Murray climbed the social order of Washington, D.C., after catching the attention of a senator and a Librarian of Congress. Eventually, he made a fortune as a business owner and developer. Murray is mostly remembered now for advancing the literar...
Until relatively recently, historical accounts neglected the role Black businesspeople played in the creation of American capitalism. Black business was an object of study for writers like W.E.B. Du Bois, with high points in the second half of the 20th century. Nonetheless, prior to Juliet Walker’s 1998 book, "The History of Black Business in Ameri...
Black Americans have an entrepreneurial tradition stretching back into slavery and a distinguished list of early millionaires, beginning in the 19th century. Nevertheless, the racial wealth gappersists. But perhaps the 21st century will finally see it disappear as there is now a growing list of Black millionaires and even some billionaires.
Feb 14, 2024 · Travers J. Bell Jr. was a visionary investor whose short life was filled with financial achievements. Born in 1941 into a poor but ambitious Chicago family, Bell studied for many hours a day from ...
Apr 16, 2021 · BUSINESS. The seven richest Black Americans. by Sean Yoes April 16, 2021. By Sean Yoes. AFRO Senior Reporter. syoes@afro.com. According to Forbes, as of October 2020, there were 614 American...
- Sean Yoes
Jul 21, 2020 · With a net worth of $5 billion, Smith is the richest Black man in America. Despite his reputation and wealth, Smith has mostly kept a low profile, earning him the nickname “The Quiet Billionaire.”
Aug 21, 2023 · Stacker compiled a list of the 10 richest Black Americans using data from Forbes. Individuals were ranked by their overall wealth ranking, with the richest person taking the #1 spot.
