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By 2025, the richest Black people in America had made considerable progress in a variety of fields, including entertainment, technology, banking, real estate, and manufacturing. These powerful individuals have not only accumulated significant wealth, but they have also established themselves as leaders in the fields of entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and social justice. This is a summary of the ten wealthiest Black men in America in 2025, highlighting their accomplishments and the ways in which they acquired their fortunes.
Top 10 Richest Black Man In America 2025 List
1. David Steward
Having grown up in the segregated South with seven siblings and a father who worked as a mechanic, janitor, and garbage collector, David Steward is the wealthiest Black American with an estimated net worth of $11.4 billion. He started his career in sales after graduating from Central Missouri State University in 1973, working for organizations such as Federal Express, Union Pacific, and Missouri Pacific Railroad. In 1981, he was named Salesman of the Year for his commitment and sales prowess. Steward was a co-founder of World Wide Technology (WWT) in 1990. WWT supplies IT solutions to large international companies like Verizon and Citi. Over 10,000 people work for WWT today, and the organization brings in an astounding $20 billion a year. Steward’s legacy as a business leader and philanthropist has been further cemented by his substantial philanthropic contributions outside of his business success. In 2018, he donated $1.3 million to the University of Missouri-St. Louis to establish the David and Thelma Steward Institute for Jazz Studies.
2. Robert F. Smith
While Robert Smith was attending East High School, he discovered that he had a strong interest in computers. Smith was born and reared in Denver, Colorado. He received a degree in chemical engineering from Cornell University in 1985 before working at Goodyear Tire and Kraft General Foods. Later, he pursued an MBA at Columbia University. In the year 2000, he established Vista Equity Partners, which has since expanded to become the most prominent Black-owned private equity business in the United States. The company employs more than 700 people and manages assets worth more than one hundred billion dollars.
3. Tope Awotona
Tope Awotona founded and runs Calendly, a $3 billion scheduling software firm in 2021. Originally from Lagos, Nigeria, he relocated to Atlanta aged 15 and studied computer science at Georgia before moving to business and management information systems. Awotona invested his 401(k) in 2013 to build Calendly after becoming frustrated with meeting scheduling emails from working in sales for various tech businesses and failing at several startups. He bootstrapped the company for years until raising $350 million in 2021 to expand. His estimated net worth is $1.4 billion.
4. LeBron James
Over the course of the past two decades, LeBron James has established himself as a formidable figure in the worlds of both business and athletics. Forbes estimates that his net worth is approximately $1.2 billion. He became the first active NBA player to reach the billionaire rank in 2022, earning more than $900 million (pretax) from endorsements and business enterprises. He was the first player to achieve this milestone. In Akron, Ohio, where he was raised by a single mother, James rose to prominence as a basketball player at an early age. He excelled at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School before being selected as the first overall choice in the Basketball Association Draft in 2003.
5. Jay-Z
Forbes values LeBron James at $1.2 billion after two decades of dominance in sports and business. He became the first NBA player to become a billionaire in 2022, earning $900 million (pretax) from sponsorships and business. James, born to a single mother in Akron, Ohio, excelled at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School before being drafted first overall in 2003.
6. Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan, who is widely considered to be the greatest basketball player of all time, won six National Basketball Association titles while playing for the Chicago Bulls, thereby establishing his legacy as a sports and business idol. Additionally, he has earned about $2.4 billion (before taxes) through endorsements with companies such as Nike, Gatorade, and Hanes. His salary in the National Basketball Association was a total of $90 million. In addition to his involvement in basketball, Jordan owns shares in Cincoro Tequila, DraftKings, and the premium timepiece website WatchBox. In the year 2020, he also became a co-owner of a NASCAR team of his own.
7. Alex Karp
Palantir Technologies, a data analytics firm for the FBI, CIA, DOD, and others, is co-founded and led by Alex Karp. Forbes estimates his net worth at $7 billion, making him one of four Black Americans on the 400. Palantir’s algorithms helped find Osama bin Laden in 2011, although much of its work is classified. Raised in Philadelphia by a Jewish father, a clinical pediatrician, and a Black mother, an artist, Karp attended Haverford College before earning his law degree from Stanford in 1992, where he roomed with PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel Palantir went public in 2020 and is worth over $160 billion.
8. Adebayo Ogunlesi
Adebayo Ogunlesi, a Nigerian-born U.S. citizen, co-founded Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a private equity firm. In October, BlackRock acquired GIP for $12.5 billion, with Ogunlesi remaining as chairman and CEO. Forbes estimates his net worth at $1.7 billion. He earned a BA from Oxford, a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
9. Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry, who is truly a comic at heart, achieved success at the age of 28 with his traveling live theatrical performances. He brought to life characters that were influenced by his background in the South, most notably the renowned Madea performance. Perry has developed an entertainment empire after years of battling to establish his career and being “poor as hell,” as he described his financial situation in an interview with Forbes in the year 2020. This same year, he became the second highest-paid television showrunner in the world, and he also became a billionaire.
10. Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods is one of the greatest golfers of all time and is one of only two professional athletes, along with LeBron James, to have achieved the status of billionaire while at the same time continuing to compete. Throughout his career, he has won a record-breaking $122 million in prize money, which includes 15 major championships (second only to Jack Nicklaus) and 82 PGA Tour titles (tied with Sam Snead). He has also won 15 major championships. The majority of his estimated $1.3 billion fortune, on the other hand, is derived from lucrative endorsement deals, most notably associated with Nike.
