More than a dozen Black billionaires live in the U.S., but only these four made the 2024 Forbes 400 list.
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Forbes Daily Briefing
This Tech Entrepreneur Is The Richest Black Person In America
Here's your Forbes daily briefing for Saturday, October 5th. Today on Forbes, this tech entrepreneur is the richest black person in America. The wealthiest black person in America is IT entrepreneur, David Stewart, according to the 2024 Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans. Last week, on October 1st, Forbes revealed its annual ranking, which estimated the Missouri residence net worth at a record $11.4 billion, up from $7.6 billion last year and $6 billion the year before that. Stewart, 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. There are 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 co-founder Alexander Carp, who makes his debut with an estimated $3.6 billion, and NBA great Michael Jordan, worth an estimated $3.5 billion. Stewart, who is 73 years old, is the majority owner of Worldwide Technology, or WWT, alongside partner Jim Kavanaugh. The native of Clinton, Missouri, Stewart initially put up $250,000 in capital to start WWT in 1990, according to a 2019 Forbes profile. Over the years, the IT service provider went on to nab top corporate clients, including Apple, City, Microsoft, and the federal government. In 2023, WWT had sales of $17 billion. Roughly 67% of the Forbes 400 are self-made this year, including all four of the black members. Stewart, 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. Stewart 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, Stewart purchased his first business, an auditing company called Transportation Business Specialists, using loans from community banks throughout Missouri. In the early days of worldwide technology, which as we said he co-founded in 1990, Stewart sometimes went without a paycheck, and once watched his car get repossessed from the office parking lot. During a lecture in 2013 at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference, Stewart told the crowd, quote, "You know what it takes to get into business and what it takes to be an entrepreneur? It takes a little risk. 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, Stewart ranks number 84 on the 400 list in 2024, up from number 121 in 2023, and from number 155 in 2022. Smith, the CEO of private equity firm Vista Equity Partners, is ranked number 88, up one spot from last year when he was worth $9.2 billion. Carp, meanwhile, is one of 23 newcomers to the list. The trio of Stewart, Smith, and Carp 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 number 385 with a net worth of $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 were worth 10 figures but are still simply not rich enough to make the Forbes 400. That includes Oprah Winfrey at $3 billion, Sean Jay-Z Carter at $2.5 billion, Topa Owatana at $1.4 billion, Tyler Perry at $1.4 billion, Rihanna at $1.4 billion, Tiger Woods at $1.3 billion, LeBron James at $1.2 billion, Magic Johnson at $1.2 billion, and Sheila Johnson at $1 billion. For full coverage and to see the whole 2024 Forbes 400 list, check out Jabari Young's piece on Forbes.com. This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes, thanks for tuning in. [BLANK_AUDIO]