Black women, in the 21st century, have been breaking through barriers and finding success in financial mobility. These women created a seat at their table becoming independent businesswomen, successful in their careers and, attaining richest black women position.
In no particular order, here is the list of the top 10 richest black women in the world today.
1. Oprah Gail Winfrey
Oprah Gail Winfrey is an American talk show host, television producer, media executive, actress, author, and philanthropist.
She is best known for her talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, broadcast from Chicago, which was the highest-rated television program of its kind in history and ran in national syndication for 25 years from 1986 to 2011. Dubbed the “Queen of All Media”, she was the richest African American of the 20th century and North America’s first black multi-billionaire, and has been ranked the greatest black philanthropist in American history. She has also been sometimes ranked as the most influential woman in the world.
Winfrey earned the title of the first Black female billionaire with a net worth of $2.7 billion and still reigns supreme as one of the richest black women in the world.
2. Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and former world No. 1 in women’s singles tennis.
She is known for her prowess on and off the tennis court. The 23-time Grand Slam winner has made several boss business moves. She launched Serena Ventures, an investment firm focused on companies founded by women and minorities, which has invested in 34 startups in a portfolio worth at least $10 million.
Serena, made history in 2019 becoming the first athlete to make Forbes’ list of richest self-made women in America, with a net worth is estimated to be roughly $200 Million. Combined with the money she makes from her sport, Williams’ fortune also spreads out across her lucrative endorsements with Nike, luxury fashion, and beauty collaborations along with a large portfolio of ad work.
3. Isabel Dos Santos
Isabel dos Santos is an Angolan businesswoman, the eldest child of Angola’s former President José Eduardo dos Santos, and one of Africa’s most famous and well-known entrepreneurs.
Born in Luanda, Angola. Isabel received her education from King’s College in London, and her net worth has soared into the billions. She is the first African woman to reach billionaire status.
Wth a net worth $2.8 billion, Santos remains among the top list of richest black woen.
Despite having a presidential father, she became a businesswoman in her own right. Isabel bought and invested in companies in Angola. She has management roles in these companies. The companies vary from technology to cleaning to environmental work.
Her first job was as a project manager. She worked alongside her father to clean and disinfect Luanda. The project was known as Urbana 2000, and it helped her in starting her business acumen.
4. Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and filmmaker, born and raised in Houston, Texas.
She is known to be among the top world richest musicians in the world and solidified her status as a living legend, who continues to lift the bar in her career.
She rose to the top as a member of one of the biggest girl groups of all time, released six studio albums as a solo artist, appeared in major motion films, toured the world numerous times, headlined Coachella, released an Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary, launched successful clothing lines, and has a plethora of brand endorsements.
Beyoncé has sold 75 million albums and over 118 million records as a solo artist. Her net worth is known to be $400 million.
5. Haija Bola Shagaya
Haija Shagaya is one of Nigeria’s most distinguished fashionistas and businesswoman with holdings and several board memberships. Her business industries mainly focus on real estate.
She was born in Nigeria. Her mother was a tailor and her father a public servant in Nigeria. She has her degree in economics from Armstrong College in the United States.
Shagaya’s first job was at the Central Bank of Nigeria, where she worked as an auditor. She then moved into commercial sales doing import and export work, introducing Nigeria to Konica, a brand of photography products.
She has board memberships with Unity Bank and also, a contributing member of the Fashion Designers Association of Nigeria, also known as FADAN, and she also has membership status in the Order of the Niger.
Her net worth is $630 million.
6. Folorunsho Alakija
Folorunsho Alakija is a Nigerian billionaire businesswoman, who is involved in the fashion, oil, real estate, and printing industries.
She is the group managing director of The Rose of Sharon Group which consists of The Rose of Sharon Prints & Promotions Limited, Digital Reality Prints Limited, and the executive vice-chairman of Famfa Oil Limited.
Alakija also has a majority stake in DaySpring Property Development company and was ranked by Forbes as the richest woman in Nigeria with an estimated net worth of $1 billion.
As of 2015, she is named as the second most powerful woman in Africa after Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the 87th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.
Her first job was as a secretary in 1975. Folorunsho Alakija, worked for Sijuade Ent. in Nigeria. She then took a career at the First National Bank of Chicago, which later became part of FCMB. Alakija left the financial industry to establish Supreme Stitches, a tailoring company.
Alakija, made another career move into the oil industry, but she still held up her fashion business. She started up a joint venture with Texaco, where she obtained a license for oil exploration.
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RICHEST BLACK WOMEN
7. Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados.
one of the best-selling music artists, having sold over 250 million records worldwide. She has received numerous awards throughout her career such as 9 Grammy Awards, 12 Billboard Music Awards, 13 American Music Awards, 8 People’s Choice Awards, among others.
Aside from being a successful musician, Rihanna is also involved in a lot of other ventures including; executive producer, fashion designer, actress, astute business entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Her total net worth is roughly $600 million.
8. Ngina Kenyatta
Ngina Kenyatta popularly known as Mama Ngina is the former First Lady of Kenya. She is the widow of the country’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta (1889–1978), mother of the current president Uhuru Kenyatta, and also the de facto ruler of Kenya.
Mama Ngina was Jomo’s fourth wife, and she was given as a “gift” from the Kikuyu to Kenyatta. The Kikuyu was Kenyatta’s ethnic group. She got her nickname as Mother of a Nation from this marriage and had four children with Jomo.
Ngina broadened her huge investments and holdings into business and now, owns plantations, hotels, ranches, and other properties. She made headlines when she converted to Roman Catholicism and began attending mass every Sunday with her children.
With a net worth of over $1 billion, Ngina tops the list of richest black women in the world today.
9. Liya Kebede
Liya Kebede is an Ethiopian-born model, maternal health advocate, clothing designer, and actress. She has appeared on the cover of Vogue three times. Kebede has served as the WHO’s Ambassador for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health since 2005.
Kebede, became a model when she was attending the school Lycee Guebre-Mariam and a film producer spotted her. He enlisted her to a modeling agent from France, and her career took off, and she also, worked in both Paris and New York City as a model.
Liya Kebede got her first huge modeling break when Kebede walked for Tom Ford at his Gucci fashion show in 2000. Kebede, has been on Vogue covers and worked for various fashion labels. She is signed to DNA Model Management, though she was previously signed to IMG and VIVA.
Kebede started her foundation, the Liya Kebede Foundation, which focuses on maternal and child health.
Liya Kebebe net worth is over $18 million.
10. Jacqueline Mengi
Jacqueline Ntuyabaliwe Mengi is a Tanzanian award-winning furniture designer and chairman of Amorette Ltd a furniture design and manufacturing company. Jacqueline is also the founder and chairman of Dr Ntuyabaliwe Foundation a charity organization which provides libraries and books to local primary schools.
Her net worth has been growing significantly in 2019-2020, between $1 Million – $5 Million, making her among the top black richest women.