DURBAN - There are 2043 billionaires in the world who are altogether worth $7,7 trillion according to Forbes.
Of that number, only 10 billionaires are black which is less than 1%. Three of the 10 black billionaires are female and all of the billionaires besides Isabel Dos Santos are self-made.
Here is the list of the worlds black billionaires:
Mohammed Ibrahim: $1,14 billion
Mohammed Ibrahim
Photo: Facebook
Mohammed Ibrahim is a self-made billionaire who was born in Sudan but now lives in the United Kingdom. Ibrahim is the 11th wealthiest citizen in the United Kingdom. According to Forbes, he became a billionaire after selling his telecommunications company Celtel International in 2005. Now the billionaire through his foundation, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, spends his time bettering the lives of African citizens.
Michael Jordan: $1,31 billion
Michale Jordan
Photo: Facebook
Michael Jordan is one of the most successful basketball players of all time and he made $90 million in his career according to Forbes. Through partnerships with Nike and other corporate companies, he has amassed most of his money. The former basketball player also owns a stake in the Charlotte Hornets, an American professional basketball team. Business Insider's Cork Gaines reported that Jordan makes more in a year than what he made during his professional basketball career.
Folorunsho Alakija: $1,161 billion
Folorunsho Alakija
Photo: Facebook
Folorunsho Alakija is the vice chair of Nigerian oil company Famfa Oil. According to Forbes Alakija got her start in as the founder of an elite Nigerian fashion label. She currently lives in Lagos and has four children. Her son Folarin Alakija got married to Iranian model Nazanin Jafarian Ghaissarifar in England. The wedding was a multi-million dollar affair.
Patrice Motsepe: $1,81 billion
Patrice Motsepe
Photo: Facebook
Patrice Motsepe is the founder of mining company African Rainbow Minerals. The South African born businessman was Africa's first black billionaire. Motsepe was also the first African to sign the Giving Pledge by Bill Gates. Through this pledge, he has promised to give half of his wealth to charity. The Motsepe Foundation was founded by Motsepe and his wife Precious in 1999. The foundation helps to create new jobs, support education and better the lives of children, the unemployed and the disabled among others.
Robert Smith: $2.5 billion
Robert Smith
Photo: Facebook
Robert Smith left Goldman Sachs to start his own company, a private equity firm called Vista Equity Partners in 2000. Since then Smith's success and wealth have catapulted him to the Forbes Billionaire list for the first time in 2016. Smith got married to Playboy playmate Hope Dworaczyk in 2015 in a villa on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. The equity giant also signed the Giving Pledge in 2017.
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Oprah Winfrey: $3 billion
Oprah Winfrey
Photo: Facebook
Oprah Winfrey is the only African-American women on the Forbes billionaire list. Winfrey is a media mogul who overcame a tough childhood to become a well known and beloved media personality. The media mogul has opened up a school here in South Africa called the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. In her commencement speech at an American college, Winfrey said that the secret to success is serving others.
Isabel Dos Santos: $3,1 billion
Isabel Dos Santo
Isabel Dos Santos is the wealthiest of the three women that appear on this list. Dos Santos who is the youngest person on the list at 44 is the daughter of the President of Angola, Juan Eduardo dos Santos. The 44-year-old's fortune comes from various investments, a number of which are controversial and linked to her father according to Forbes. However Dos Santos insists that her investments are private and independent.
Mike Adenuga: $6,1 billion
Mike Adenuga
Photo: Facebook
Mike Adenuga is the chairman Globacom, a telecommunications company that has 36 million subscribers. He is also the majority owner of Conoil, a Lagos based oil company according to Bloomberg. The Nigerian businessman used to drive a taxi to pay bills while getting his MBA from Pace University in New York. According to Forbes Adenuga is the second richest man in Nigeria.
Mohammed Al Amoudi: $8,4 million
Mohammed Al Amoudi
Photo: Facebook
Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi moved from Ethiopia to Saudi Arabia at the age of 19 and began accumulating his fortune from government contracts in real estate and construction according to Bloomberg. Today he owns businesses across numerous industries including oil, mining and agriculture in Saudi Arabia, his native Ethiopia and Sweden.
Aliko Dangote: $12,2 billion.
Aliko Dangote
Photo: Facebook
Alika Dangote is the richest man in Africa and has been the CEO and President of the Dangote Group for 35 years. The majority of his wealth comes from a more than 90% stake in Dangote Cement which is Africa's biggest producer of cement and traded on the Nigerian Stock exchange. Dangote is also an active philanthropist and serves as the chairman of the Dangote Foundation which focuses in education. agriculture and health-related initiatives.
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