More than a dozen Black billionaires live in the U.S., but only these four made the 2024 Forbes 400 list.
By Jabari Young, Forbes Staff
The wealthiest Black person in America is IT entrepreneur David Steward, according to the 2024 Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans. On Tuesday, Forbes revealed its annual ranking, which estimated the Missouri resident’s net worth at a record $11.4 billion, up from $7.6 billion last year and $6 billion the year before that. Steward, who resides in St. Louis, tops private equity billionaire Robert Smith, who is the second richest, with an estimated net worth of $10.8 billion.
They’re two of just four Black members on the 2024 ranking, which required a minimum net worth of $3.3 billion, the most ever. That means just 1% of the list members are Black entrepreneurs or executives. The other two are Palantir cofounder Alexander Karp, who makes his debut with an estimated $3.6 billion, and NBA great Michael Jordan, worth an estimated $3.5 billion.
Steward, 73, is the majority owner of World Wide Technology (WWT) alongside partner Jim Kavanaugh. A native of Clinton, Missouri, Steward initially put up $250,000 in capital to start WTT in 1990, according to a 2019 Forbes profile. Over the years, the IT service provider went on to nab top corporate clients including Apple, Citi, Microsoft, and the federal government. In 2023, WTT had sales of $17 billion.
Roughly 67% of The Forbes 400 are self-made, including all four of the Black members. Steward, though, is among a very elite group of just 25 billionaires who have been given a maximum 10 on the self-made scorecard, meaning that he is one of just a handful who truly have rags to riches stories.
Steward grew up in the segregated South with seven siblings; his father worked as a mechanic, janitor and trash collector. After graduating from Central Missouri University, he worked in sales for the Missouri Pacific Railroad, Union Pacific and FedEx. In 1983, Steward purchased his first business—an auditing company called Transportation Business Specialists— using loans from community banks throughout Missouri. In the early days of World Wide Technology, which he cofounded in 1990, Steward sometimes went without a paycheck and once watched his car get repossessed from the office parking lot.
“You know what it takes to get into business and what it takes to be an entrepreneur? It takes a little risk,” Steward told a crowd during a lecture in 2013 at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference. “It takes getting past your fears. It’s having much faith of the possibilities as well. And being able to put everything on the line because you know you’ve been called upon to do something very special. It doesn’t take a whole lot of money.”
Overall, Steward ranks No. 84 in 2024, up from No. 121 in 2023 and from No. 155 in 2022. Smith, the CEO of private equity firm Vista Equity Partners, is ranked No. 88, up one spot from last year, when he was worth $9.2 billion.
Karp, meanwhile, is one of 23 newcomers to the list and is worth $4.1 billion.
The trio of Steward, Smith and Karp made their wealth in the two most common industries for the 400 wealthiest Americans: finance and tech.
Jordan made his fortune in sports, but mainly after transitioning from NBA player to NBA team owner. Jordan, who ranks No. 385 with a net worth $3.5 billion, first debuted a year ago after selling his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets for $3 billion.
Several other Black billionaires are part of the 415 Americans who are worth ten figures but are still simply not rich enough to make The Forbes 400. That includes:
- Oprah Winfrey ($3 billion)
- Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter” ($2.5 billion)
- Tope Awotona ($1.4 billion)
- Tyler Perry ($1.4 billion)
- Rihanna ($1.4 billion)
- Tiger Woods ($1.3 billion)
- LeBron James ($1.2 billion)
- Magic Johnson ($1.2 billion)
- Sheila Johnson ($1 billion)
See the entire 2024 Forbes 400 here.