Black billionaires

According to Forbes 2014 ranking of the world's billionaires, Nigerian business magnate Aliko Dangote with a net worth of $25 billion is the world's richest black person. Others on the list are Nigeria's Mike Adenuga with $4.6 billion, American media mogul Oprah Winfrey with a net worth of $3.9 billion (2015) and South African gold magnate Patrice Motsepe, with $2.9 billion, Nigeria's Folorunsho Alakija with $2.5 billion, Nigeria's Abdulsmad Rabiu with $1.2 billion and Mo Ibrahim, a British billionaire of Sudanese Nubian ancestry, who has been on the Forbes Billionaire list since 2008 and in 2012 had a net worth of $1.1 billion.

In the years since, investor Robert Smith, with a net worth of $3.0 billion, and sports executive Michael Jordan, with $1.1 billion, have risen to the list.

From 2001 to 2003, Forbes listed American television network executive Bob Johnson as a billionaire, but dropped him after his fortune was split in his divorce. He returned to Forbes Billionaire list in 2007 with a net worth of $1.1 billion. In 2008 Johnson's wealth dropped again, this time to approximately $1.0 billion and by 2009 he fell off the list again. Nigerian petroleum executive Femi Otedola briefly emerged as a billionaire in 2009, but has not been listed in the following years.

Multiracial billionaires with significant black ancestry have also been identified over the years. Saudi Arabian billionaire Mohammed Al Amoudi, of Hadhrami Yemeni and Ethiopian descent, has been on the Forbes billionaire list since 2002 and in 2012 had a net worth of $12.5 billion. Michael Lee-Chin of Canada, who is Jamaican of Chinese and Black ancestry was on the list from 2001 to 2010, but dropped off in 2011. In 2013 Isabel Dos Santos who is of both Black and Middle Eastern ancestry made the list with a $2 billion net worth.

Of all the above-mentioned billionaires identified by Forbes, only Oprah Winfrey qualified for Forbes 2009's list of the world's 20 most powerful billionaires, a list which considered not only wealth, but also market sway and political clout. Winfrey was considered especially powerful because of her influence on American consumer choices and her pivotal role in getting Barack Obama elected.