In this post, we will highlight the top ten Black women, billionaires and millionaires. The objective of this blog is to share success stories about Black Excellence and affluence with a focus on what makes them black. With self-made opportunities, these phenomenal women are joining the upper echelon of wealth and influence by leveraging their intelligence, grit and leadership.
There are also obstacles of any demographic on Earth that they need to overcome in confirming their success such as stereotypes and sexism.
These ten women are executives, entrepreneurs, and entertainers that have experienced many challenges as entrepreneurs. They are our role models for success in the world and inspiration to others. Let’s take some time to know their ability to overcome whatever challenges were brought before them to become beacons of hope and inspiration for the current and future generations of women.
They are rarely given a fast track, a silver spoon, or even a presumption of competency. But these ten women that we are spotlighting today are entrepreneurs, executives and entertainers that we want to take some time to acknowledge, and not so much for their wealth, but for their ability to overcome whatever challenges were brought before them to become beacons of hope and inspiration for the current and future generations of women.
In this exclusive post, we will celebrate the top ten Black women millionaires and billionaires. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
10 Serena Williams [Net Worth $250 Millions]
Famed tennis player Serena Williams became a superstar early on in her career thanks to her athletic abilities, but she also has been able to build a business empire off the court as well. The 23 time Grand Slam winner has racked up more than $94 million in prize money over her epic tennis career. But her prowess as a businesswoman is the reason that she was able to make this list.
Today, William’s net worth is approximately $240,000,000. And in 2019, she made history by becoming the first athlete to make Forbes list of the richest self made women in America. Combined with the money she makes from her sport, william’s fortune also spreads out across her lucrative endorsements with Nike, luxury fashion lines, beauty collaborations, a large portfolio of ad work and her ownership stake in both the Miami Dolphins and the UFC.
Other boss business moves include an investment firm she named Serena Ventures that focused on companies founded by women and minorities, which has invested in 34 startups in a portfolio worth at least $10 million.
9 Wendy Applebaum [Net Worth $170 Millions]
Wendy Applebaum is the only daughter of South African business mogul Donald Gordon, who founded the insurance and real estate firm Liberty Investors. Applebaum is rated as the richest woman in South Africa and one of the biggest philanthropists in Africa. Born in 1961, the weight of her success is not only attributed to the influence of her father, but also benevolence in leadership skills in business and economic development, interest in general, health and welfare, and her role in advancing women empowerment.
She previously served as a director at Liberty Investors and was one of the company’s largest individual shareholders until she sold her shares to become cash rich, Forbes reported.
Applebaum is now the co-owner and chairwoman of D Morgans On Wine Estate in Stellenbosch, South Africa, and a cofounder and deputy chairwoman of Women’s Investment Portfolio Ltd, which has over $150,000,000 in assets.
8 Beyonce [Net Worth $400 Million]
Beyonce may be married to a billionaire, but she has accumulated a large fortune on her own as both a member of Destiny’s Child and as a solo artist. Known as a global icon, the singer, songwriter and producer is rated as one of the biggest and most successful female musicians in history, the best selling artists in the world solidified her status as a living legend and continues to raise the bar.
In her career as a member of one of the biggest girl groups of all time, she sold over 75 million albums. As a solo artist, she has sold over 118,000,000 records, released six studio albums, five live albums, three compilation albums and 62 singles. In addition to appearing in major motion films, Queen B has toured the world numerous times. Headline Coachella released an Emmy nominated Netflix documentary, launched successful clothing lines including Ivy Park and has a plethora of brand endorsements.
Her marriage to JayZ, the most successful rapper in history, makes the power couple the richest celebrity couple in the world. Together, the Queen Bee and Hoe have a net worth of a staggering one and a half billion dollars.
7 Janice Bryant Howroyd [Net worth $420 Million]
How $435,000,000 of entrepreneur, author and mentor Janice Bryant Howroid is the first black woman to run a $1 billion enterprise. Howroyd is the founder and CEO of Act One Group, an international employment agency that provides consulting and business services.
The innovative CEO started her impressive empire in Los Angeles in 1978 with $1,500, including a $900 loan from her mother. Starting with only a fax machine and a phone in a small office in Beverly Hills, the businesswoman now runs one of the largest staffing firms in the world, with over 2600 employees and 170 clients across 19 different countries globally.
Bryant Halloyd also owns several dozen properties, including commercial rental properties and residences. Howroyd’s wealth can be attributed not only to the 500 billion dollar global staffing market, but also her ingenuity in providing flexible, comprehensive solutions under the three distinct business verticals of staffing, workforce solutions and business services.
6 Ngina Kenyatta [Net Worth $515 Millions]
Known as Mama Ngina Kenyatta, the widow of Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta has accumulated her wealth from real estate, farming, banking and manufacturing. Kenyatta controls some of the largest privately held land holdings in Kenya. She controls about 5000 acres of Kenyan land with an average price of $1,000 per acre. Kenyatta and her family own Brookside Dairies, Kenya’s largest dairy company, as well as interest in different companies across the nation and overseas.
Her lucrative stakes include Kenyan television station K 24, a UAE private equity firm, a timber production company and the Commercial Bank of Africa. Mama Ingenia is a hard working woman who has started different companies of her own, from which she rakes in millions today.
Mama Ngina’s son. Ahuru Kenyatta is the president of Kenya.
5 Hajia Bola Shagaya [Net Worth $700 Million]
Nigerian businesswoman Haja Bolas Shagaya is the founder and CEO of Bolmus Group International, a conglomerate with interest in oil, real estate, banking, communications and photography.
The real estate development sector of her group builds and owns dozens of luxurious residential properties in some of Nigeria’s most expensive neighborhoods. She started her career with the audit department of the Central Bank of Nigeria before venturing into commercial activities in 1983.
Her business experience started with the importation and distribution of photographic materials, and she introduced the Khanuka brand of photographic materials into the Nigerian market in West Africa.
Bola Shagaya was not born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She attained her dominant position in business through hard work, studying hard at two universities, one of those being Armstrong College in California, where she learned her banking skills and gained the edge she needed to become one of the continents for most business women.
4 Sheila Johnson [Net Worth $770,000,000]
Entrepreneur and philanthropist Sheila Crump Johnson is the cofounder of the cable TV channel Black Entertainment Networks, or what we all know as Bet, the first cable TV franchise dedicated to African Americans.
She helped her husband, Robert Johnson, build it from the ground up. Starting in 1979, Johnson, along with her then husband, sold Bet in an allstop deal to Viacom in two one for a cool $2.9 billion. Shortly thereafter, the two divorced and Johnson sold off her shares, becoming the first African American woman in history to attain a net worth of at least $1 billion.
She leveraged those funds to invest in salamander hospitality in other hotels and resorts in Florida, Virginia, South Carolina and Jamaica. Although she’s no longer classified as a billionaire, the business Savvy Trailblazer is still one of the richest black women in the world, with stakes in three professional sports franchises in the NBA’s Washington Wizards, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, and the NHL’s Washington Capitals.
Ms. Johnson is also an avid philanthropist, currently acting as a global ambassador for Care, a humanitarian organization fighting global poverty.
3 Rihanna [Net Worth $1.7 Billion]
Rihanna is one of the best selling music artists in the world, having sold over 250,000,000 records worldwide. She has received numerous awards throughout her career, such as nine Grammy Awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards, 13 American Music Awards and eight People’s Choice Awards, among others.
Aside from being a widely successful musician, Rihanna is also involved in a plethora of other ventures, including executive producer, fashion designer, actress, astute business, entrepreneur and philanthropist. So it should come as no surprise that most of her fortune comes from her business ventures rather than her music. Her biggest bag is her makeup line, Fenty Beauty, which she co owns with a luxury goods group, LVMH. She also is the co owner of the Savage X Fenty lingerie line.
In the last three years, Rihanna has built a multimillion dollar makeup and fashion empire that now positions her as the richest female musician in the world.
The Barbados born superstar isn’t the only celebrity to capitalize on her social media presence to build her brand. By the way, she has 120 Million followers on Instagram and 107 million on Twitter, but she is the most successful beauty entrepreneur to do so.
Forbes recently announced that Rihanna is officially a billionaire with an empire worth almost $2 billion.
2 Folorunsho Alakija [Net Worth $1.7 Billion]
Straight from Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, comes Folorunsho Alakija, businesswoman and philanthropist. Ms. Alakija is overseer of several business ventures in industries such as oil, real estate, fashion and printing. The Nigerian billionaire is a focused, serious minded pioneer and career woman whose empire continues to grow.
The first company that she spearheaded was actually a fashion label with clients including the wife of the Nigerian president. She has since been able to parlay her business savvy into powerful positions, as she is currently the chairwoman of Famfa Oil, a Nigerian oil exploration company who has lucrative partnerships with Chevron.
In addition to being an oil tycoon, Alakija is a dedicated philanthropist who serves as CEO of Rosa Sharing Group, a foundation focused on helping orphans and widows. For all of these reasons, many would consider Folorunsho Alakija as the most powerful woman in all of Africa.
1 Oprah Winfrey [Net Worth $2.7 Billion]
Oprah Winfrey embodies the true meaning of a self made success story. She is the richest black woman in the world with a net worth of two $6 billion. The queen of all media built her wealth from the ground up, starting out as talk show host of The Oprah Winfrey Show, the highest rated television program of its kind in history.
Running a national syndication for 25 years from 1086 to 2011. Her courageous strides in the television industry helped her create a highly successful media empire that is now worth more than two $6 billion.
The American media executive, television producer, author and actress has built a conglomerate that includes the cable channel O-Magazine, Harbor Productions, Oxygen Network, which NBC purchased, and a multi year partnership with Apple TV Plus and Weight Watchers. The talk show host turned media mogul Oprah Winfrey reinvested the profits from her 25 year run on her namesake show into a $2 billion empire.
The billionaire’s media empire includes the cable channel owned and O-magazine. She also recently signed a multi year deal with Apple TV Plus. The 16 time Daytime Emmy Award winner is one of the most influential people on the planet and has jump started the careers of hundreds of actors, directors and producers.
Oprah ranks as the greatest black philanthropist in American history. Working through her charitable foundation, Oprah’s Angel Network. One of her most cherished accomplishments is opening up the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.
We appreciate the fact that you stayed with us until the end. Thank you for spending time with us.