Photo credit —David Suarez
When we hear the word “billionaire,” a certain image comes to mind—luxury jets, pristine boardrooms, and the same faces we’ve seen a thousand times before. But what if I told you there are compelling billionaires you didn’t know about? What if their wealth isn’t just about zeros and shares but about grit, wild ideas, and quiet rebellion?
These five Black billionaires may not make your daily headlines, but their stories carry the rhythm of migration, sacrifice, and innovation, the kind that changes history from the backseat.
- Tope Awotona
Tope Awotona was born in Lagos and moved to the United States with his family after tragedy struck, with his father murdered in a carjacking, reminding him of the harsh realities of life.After dabbling in several business flops, Tope bet his savings (and maxed out his credit cards) on a simple, frustrating idea: scheduling meetings shouldn’t be this hard. Calendly was born out of that chaos, and it quietly exploded. Today, the company is valued at over $3 billion. Tope owns the majority. No loud press run. No desperate need for Silicon Valley approval. Just a Nigerian man with patience and receipts.
- Sheila Johnson
Co-founder of BET and the first Black woman billionaire in America (before Oprah hit 10-figure status), Sheila Johnson is big-time brilliant. While her ex-husband, Bob Johnson, often gets the credit for BET’s rise, Sheila was behind the network’s programming strategy and early audience-building.
After selling BET, she flipped the payout into a luxury hospitality empire (Salamander Hotels), NBA and NHL team ownership, and arts philanthropy. Although she never sought attention, she controls it from behind the scenes.
- Michael Lee-Chin—The Jamaican Banker Who Bought the Bank
Michael Lee-Chin didn’t grow up with money. He cleaned hotel floors in Jamaica before studying engineering in Canada. But he had a gift: vision. After investing in a few high-performing mutual funds in the ’80s, Lee-Chin flipped that insight into Portland Holdings—a conglomerate with stakes across banking, telecom, tourism, and more.
What makes him special? In 2002, he returned to Jamaica and bought the National Commercial Bank, rescuing it from collapse. The same country that raised him now watches him shape its future. Full circle, but make it billionaires.
- Mo Ibrahim
Sudanese-British telecom magnate Mo Ibrahim helped connect Africa through cell phones. He built Celtel in the early 2000s when most investors said Africa was a “risk.” After selling it for $3.4 billion, Mo could’ve walked away. Instead, he turned his wealth into a weapon against bad governance.
The Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership is one of the richest awards in the world. It is given to African leaders who step down peacefully and govern with integrity. Mo’s message is simple: real power is in building systems, not just stacking paper.
- Janice Bryant Howroyd
Her name may be unfamiliar to you, but she is the owner of ActOne Group, one of the biggest privately held staffing firms in the United States. Janice was the first Black woman to own a billion-dollar business outright.
Born in North Carolina during segregation, she moved to L.A. with $900, a phone, and a borrowed typewriter. That’s her actual life, not a movie. Today, she supplies workforce solutions to Fortune 500s. Her mantra? “Never compromise who you are personally to become who you wish to be professionally.”
Black wealth is not random but a result of migration, hustle, political consciousness, and a refusal to conform. So maybe the question isn’t who is wealthy but who is rewriting the definition of success and our obligations to the communities that shaped us.
If these billionaires demonstrate anything, it’s that authority doesn’t always yell. Sometimes it simply moves.
