Top 10 Richest Black Women in the World (2024)
Black billionaires are now springing up in the world. For instance, the richest woman in Africa today isn’t Alakija Folorunsho but Isabel Dos Santos. She also doubles as the wealthiest black woman in the world.
Over the years, black people have dominated the wealthy class especially African Americans. Billionaire men and women like Dangote and Oprah Winfrey, etc, have proven that race, gender and skin colour have no bearing as to who has the most wealth or investment.
Despite having a world ruled by men when it comes to wealth acquisition and influence, there are some set of black women that are rich, carrying out philanthropic actions and whose financial net worth, assets, monetary value and investment make them influential in the society.
According to Forbes, here are the richest black women in the world today
Top 10 Richest Black Women in the World 2023
Isabel Dos Santos
Isabel Dos Santos is the first on the list of richest black woman in the world today with a net worth of $3.5 Billion. Born on the 20th, March 1973 in Baku, Angola, she is the first daughter of Angolan president, José Eduardo Dos Santos.
She attended king’s college in London. Isabel was rated among the 2015 top 100 influential women in the world in a list compiled by Forbes (a world economy analysis site).
Isabel Dos Santos is currently the richest woman in Angola and Africa and is on the richest black billionaires list. She’s the CEO of Miami Beach club which was inaugurated in 1997. She is also the chairwoman of Sanagol company, Angola’s leading oil and gas company.
Oprah Gail Winfrey
Second on the list is Oprah Winfrey. Born on the 29th of November, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi, US. She is also one of the few wealthy black people alive.
She’s a media expert, an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and a great philanthropist. As a celebrity who focuses more on the media, Oprah Winfrey runs daytime TV shows where she earns huge amounts of money.
Due to her high level of generosity, Oprah was declared as the greatest black philanthropist in the history of America. As if that wasn’t enough, she was rated by Forbes magazine as one of the most influential black women in the world and the richest African American woman in the world.
She became the CEO of Happo production since 1986 till date. She’s also the CEO of Oprah Winfrey network. Her net worth is approximately $3 billion.
Folorunsho Alakija
Third on our list of rich women is Folorunsho Alakija with a net worth of $2.6 billion. Folorunsho Alakija was born in 1951 in Ikorodu, Lagos state of Nigeria to a wealthy family. She attended Dinorben school for girls in Wales where she had her education.
After her tertiary education which she got at Pitman’s central college London, Alakija became a financial secretary in the banking system (FCMB). Despite recording a huge success as a secretary, she quit her secretarial work to become a fashion designer by establishing a tailoring company which she named Supreme stitches.
She is into Oil and gas, real estate, etc. She is also the richest woman in Nigeria alive today and is happily married with children and grand children.
Sheila Crump Johnson
Sheila Crump Johnson is also one of the wealthiest black woman on our list. Research has it that she is the fourth world’s richest black woman on earth with an estimated net worth of $740 million.
Sheila Johnson made her fortune through investing in various businesses. For example, Sheila Johhnson has stakes in various multi organizations including NBA, NHL and WNBA.
She is also the founder of Black Television Entertainment, a leading station in the media industry. We know that the most part of her wealth is due to her diverse investments, she owns a lot of mansions and luxury resorts scattered at various countries in the world.
Hajia Bola Shagaya
Hajia Bola Shagaya just like Folorunsho is among the list of Forbes richest women in Nigeria and in the world. Her net worth is estimated at $630 million.
As one of Africa’s most successful entrepreneurs, Shagaya’s wealth stems mostly from real estate business apart from her numerous real estate assets across Europe and the United states.
She is seen as a role model to many aspiring female entrepreneurs and has stakes in various areas like photography, communications, oil, fashion, banking and real estate business.
Ngina Kenyatta
Another powerful black person who is wealthy is Ngina Kenyatta. She is the wife to the former President of Kenya. Her net worth is estimated at $515 million according to Forbes.
She owns most of the multi-national firms in Kenya which are said to be worth millions of dollars. Most of the businesses she possesses ranges from real estate, manufacturing, farming and banking.
Beyonce
It is not surprising to see African american ladies that are successful on this list. One person worthy of mention is Beyonce Knowels, female singer and wife to popular rich american rapper, Jay-z.
Apart from being one of the richest black women in the world, Beyonce is known to be the most popular female singer known across the globe. It is said that she has made money through various sponsorship deals.
Apart from her songs, she is also a business woman who has a lot of assets. She has her own popular record label, Parkwood Entertainment. She is also into fashion, modelling where she has her own brand. Beyonce is said to be worth $450 Million.
Wendy Appelbaum
Wendy hails from South Africa. It is said that her late father willed all his property to her which accounts for her wealth.
She has since managed to increase her father’s wealth through various investments in hotel business, real estate and diamonds. Wendy Appelbaum net worth is estimated at $310 million according to Forbes.
Rosalind Brewer
She is one of the most influential women in the world and 57th most powerful. She is also the first African-American to become Sam’s club president.
Risa Lavizzo Mourey
Born in 1954 at Seattle, Washington. She’s the CEO of Robert wood Johnson foundation. She’s ranked 19th most powerful and influential black woman in 2016 by Forbes.
Michelle Obama
Need no introduction, she’s the wife of US former president- Barrack Obama with a net worth of $100 million and last on the list of richest black woman in the world this 2024.
