In this article we are going to list the 7 richest black people In America and their stock picks. Click to skip ahead and jump to the 3 Richest Black People In America and Their Stock Picks.
Look, it is clear as day that even in the 21st century, even in 2021, America has a major racism problem. And while we like to target America specifically for the racism prevalent there, it is true all across the world as well. Go to the United Kingdom and you’ll see that blacks aren’t really treated well there either, ruining the image of the country being incredibly accepting of all races. But the funny thing, this type of racism isn’t just limited to white people, but people of other races putting down those of a darker color too. Go to any South Asian country, and if you’re dark, your own family and friends will make fun of you for the color of your skin, which has also helped ensure that skin whitening cosmetics are just a way of life and absolutely necessary to look normal. Talk about not feeling comfortable in your own skin.
While this is a problem globally and a lot needs to be done to address the issues which lead to this type of racism, let’s come back to America. You can watch shows from the 80s where black men are targeted by the police for just being black, and you may think that this is just an exaggeration or that it doesn’t happen anymore now that we’re becoming more woke, but you couldn’t be further from the truth. And America has a history of oppression towards its black folk. Even when slavery ended and black people were freed to live as they see fit and become productive members of society, America never quite lifted its knee off the neck. For example, in 1898, just after the conclusion of Election Day, white supremacists led the overthrowing of the city government in Wilmington, North Carolina, and through brute force, made the chief of police, the alderman and the mayor resign. This was because blacks were affluent in the city and the white supremacists could not stand that happening. Not only was the government forced to resign, at least one office of an African-American was burned down by the mob, while many blacks were killed, with some believing that number to be more than a hundred. Not only was no one convicted of the murders of dozens of people, the white supremacists were able to change the law enough to ensure that blacks were marginalized for more than two generations. In 1896, the state of North Carolina had more than 125,000 registered black voters. By 1902, only six thousand were registered, with the rest having fled the state and especially Wilmington, which was one of the only thriving cities at the time with a majority black population.
Copyright: sifotography / 123RF Stock Photo
While this is a depressing story, it is far from the only one, because like I said, black people have been oppressed for as long as America has existed. The Tulsa story has started gaining significant traction over the past few years and especially because of it being a prominent feature of the new TV series Watchmen but go back 6 years, and you’d barely find anyone who had heard of the story. Basically, in 1921, a black man, Dick Rowland, tripped and fell on a white girl, and was promptly arrested. This happened in Tulsa, Oklahoma which was known as Black Wall Street because of the affluent black community which had become quite successful. Immediately after the arrest of Rowland, rumors of an impending lynching began to surface, with a mob showing up outside the jail to lynch Rowland. However, they were thwarted by a black mob which showed up to protect him. One gunshot later, the worst race riot in US history followed; it was so bad that white pilots from nearby airfields dropped bombs on black businesses, making Tulsa one of the few cities to have been aerially attacked in the US. While the official death toll was only recorded at 39, and the only thing left of Black Wall Street was rubble and history, the United States government did what they thought was the best idea at the time; trying to remove this incident from history records, which included mass burials of the dead. When I first heard of this in 2015, I was shocked to learn that the number of deaths weren’t 39, but more than 300. These are two major incidents I’ve mentioned where blacks were systematically oppressed and their progress destroyed, but even now, you’ll find a majority of people thinking that paying reparations to black folk is unfair and that they have brought this upon themselves. And unless we’re able to educate such people, racism will only continue to grow and thrive.
While these are historic instances, don’t worry, we’ve got plenty of recent examples for you too. 17 year old Trayvon Martin was murdered by a man in 2012, who was then not even convicted and ended up selling his gun that was used to murder a child for nearly a quarter of a million dollars. Or it 9 years is still too old and you think society has progressed, how about the case of Breonna Taylor, where the police busted into her house unannounced, executing a warrant in the search of a person who had been already detained when officers entered her apartment, without allegedly announcing themselves, leading to Taylor’s boyfriend thinking thieves were busting in and shooting at the officers who returned fire, killing Breonna Taylor and arresting her boyfriend for attempted murder of a police officer. This happened in March 2020, right at the start of the pandemic, not 10 years ago or decades ago. None of the officers in the raid were charged with any crime at all. But perhaps the biggest impact of a black death was when George Floyd was murdered by police during an arrest. The arrest wasn’t for sexual assault or rape or robbery or any major crime, but for using a counterfeit $20 bill. During the arrest, one officer kept his knee on the neck of Floyd for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, even though he repeatedly said he could not breathe, and died, even as onlookers tried to intervene but were stopped by other police officers. This led to widespread global protests calling for an end to racism, but we’ll only know whether any improvement has been made if the officer responsible, Derek Chauvin, is found guilty of a murder that he carried out on videotape, even though generally police officers are held culpable for overexerting their authority, which has potentially led to cops believing they’re bigger than the law, rather than just responsible for upholding it.
The reason I mention all of this is because racism may not always be apparent, but manifests itself in various ways. People claim that you can see successful black people in business and all kinds of professions and one has even managed to become the President of the United States, but that does not mean that equal opportunities are provided to every race. For example, there are at least 614 billionaires in the United States. Of these 614 billionaires, only 7 are black. Do you see how incredible that stat is? 1.1% of all billionaires are blacks, even though they make up 13.4% of the total population. Talk about underrepresentation. Furthermore, the richest black man in the US is worth $6 billion. The richest American, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is worth $183 billion. I hope you appreciate the vast difference. In a country where being black is still considered by many as being inferior, becoming a billionaire is an incredible achievement. So without further ado, let’s take a look at the richest black people in America and their stock picks, with all of the data being taken from the Forbes Real Time Billionaires list, starting with number 7:
7. Tyler Perry
Total net worth in March (in billions of dollars): 1
Tyler Perry is a media mogul who made his fortune as an actor, director, screenwriter and producer, noted for developing several TV series as well. At least $60 million of his billion dollar empire come from his stake in Bet+, whose ultimate parent is ViacomCBS (NASDAQ:VIAC).
6. Jay-Z
Total net worth in March (in billions of dollars): 1.4
The rapper and businessman is not only one of the most influential hip-hop artists of all time, but is also the richest in history, after founding Rocawear owned by Iconix (NASDAQ:ICON) and is also raising funds to acquire cannabis companies.
5. Michael Jordan
Total net worth in March (in billions of dollars): 1.6
The basketball legend may arguably be the greatest player in the sport, but he also showed he has a mind for business, including investing in Draftkings (NASDAQ:DKNG), which jumped up 6% after his investment.
4. Kanye West
Total net worth in March (in billions of dollars): 1.8
You may have heard recent news about Kanye being worth $6.6 billion, which would make him the richest black man in America, but Bloomberg has revised his net worth based on a document which shows the best possible outcome, for a business (Yeezy Gap) which hasn’t even launched yet, let alone make a profit. That is why we’ve gone with the more conservative number that Forbes provided for the singer turned businessman. West has partnered with Gap (NYSE:GPS) and Adidas, which have immensely contributed to his net worth.
Please continue to see the 3 Richest Black People in America and their stock picks.
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Disclosure: None. 7 richest black people in America and their stock picks is originally published at Insider Monkey.
