The Only Black Billionaires In America

It’s no secret that in America, it’s just harder to become successful if you’re not white. There’s plenty of talented people of color that prove this exact thing. But while the odds are stacked higher against them than they would be against a white person, every now and then a black person comes around that becomes extremely successful.

There’s not too many of them around, but seven currently living black people have managed to become billionaires in the United States of America. Let’s find out who, and how.

Jay-Z

Perhaps the most obvious one on this list, Jay-Z has amassed a lot of his wealth from his music. Apart from that, he’s also a very successful producer and entrepreneur. He’s currently spending more of his time dealing with his several business ventures rather than making music, but who can blame the guy? With 14 albums and 22 Grammy’s already, Jay-Z has nothing to prove to anyone anymore when it comes to being a good musician.

Oprah Winfrey

You get a billion dollars! You get a billion dollars! Everyone gets a billion dollars! I mean, we know why Oprah is rich. She had the most successful talk show in the history of talk shows and then started her own media network after retiring. She’s always been clever when it came to managing her money, which is why her net worth is still comfortably worth 2 billion dollars.

Kanye West

I know what you’re thinking: wasn’t Kanye bankrupt? Well, sort of. He’s certainly made some bad investments in the past, but he’s also been clever enough to use his name and persona to the fullest to market himself into oblivion. The biggest example are his very successful Yeezy sneakers, and those royalties alone are about in the $140 million range. Kanye West himself claims he’s worth 3 billion dollars, yet Forbes agrees to disagree and places him on a modest 1.3 billion. Still enough, I’d say.