How many Blacks made Forbes ‘Richest Billionaire In Every State’ list in 2024?

Forbes has published the list of The Richest Person In Every State for 2024. In its search for the richest resident in every state, the Business Magazine discovered that 47 states have at least one member of the ten-figure club.

The platform added that these 54 people on the list, some of whom are tied for the top spot in their state, have a combined net worth of $1.6 trillion, which is $100 billion more than last year.

Louisiana has a new billionaire who doubles as the state’s richest man, with an estimated net worth of $9.1 billion. Todd Graves is the founder and CEO of the fried chicken fast-food chain Raising Cane’s. He unseats Gayle Benson, who owns the NFL New Orleans Saints and the NBA New Orleans Pelicans.

The richest in certain states changed over the past year, as some of the wealthiest Americans decided to move. With Jeff Bezos no longer in Washington, Bill Gates emerged as the richest resident of Washington while Mark Zuckerberg claimed the top spot in California over a recent surge in his fortune. Shares of Meta nearly tripled in value over the past year following mass layoffs at the company and ongoing investments into AI and the metaverse, according to Forbes.

Meanwhile, Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar is the richest resident in Hawaii despite Bezos, Larry Ellison and Zuckerberg all owning property in that state. Also, Steve Cohen, founder of hedge fund firm Point72 Asset Management, replaced Ray Dalio as the richest in the state of Connecticut.

As per Forbes, Alaska, Delaware and West Virginia are the only three states still without a billionaire.

In all the states highlighted by Forbes, no black billionaire emerged as the richest despite a recent surge of black billionaires. As of 2024, there are 10 black billionaires in America. And in a recent publication of the richest Americans by Forbes, three blacks made the list dubbed “The Forbes 400 list.” They were: Robert F. Smith, David Steward, and Michael Jordan.

Smith was ranked number 8 as the wealthiest Black person in America with an estimated net worth of $9.2 billion. Smith founded the private equity firm, Vista Equity Partners, in 2000, which focuses exclusively on investing in software companies. The Denver native and philanthropist made headlines when he paid off the student debts of Morehouse’s graduating class in 2019. Steward occupied the 121st position on the list with a net worth of $7.6 billion.

Steward occupied the 121st position on the list with a net worth of $7.6 billion. The self-made billionaire started his entrepreneurial journey from a humble background and worked his way up the ladder to become successful. 

Jordan ranked 379 on the list with an estimated net worth of $3 billion, according to Forbes. He joined The Forbes 400 following the sale of his stake in the Charlotte Hornets.