You probably didn’t know that these Black entrepreneurs borrowed money to start their business empires

David Steward

David Steward is the second richest Black American with a net worth of $6 billion, per Forbes’ estimates. The self-made billionaire started his entrepreneurial journey from a humble background and worked his way up the ladder to become successful. After working for a number of institutions and companies like St. Louis, Wagner Electric Corp., Missouri Pacific Railroad Company and Federal Express, Steward felt it was time to be his own boss.

He approached his father for a $2000 loan which he used to launch Transportation Business Specialists, which audited and reviewed freight-bill and overcharges for the rail industry. He later established a sister company that was in charge of auditing undercharges for railroad companies called Transport Administrative Service.

In 1990, he launched what would later turn out to be his most important business. He founded IT provider World Wide Technology (WWT) with a shoestring budget and with seven employees. Today, it is one of the largest Black-owned IT providers in the U.S. with more than 20 locations across the world. The company provides services for both the American government and private organizations.

WWT notes that it has more than 8,000 employees and generates more than $14.5 billion in annual revenue, according to Bloomberg. The technology services provider specializes in cloud capabilities, data center, virtualization, security, mobility, and networking technologies along with voice, video, and collaboration solutions.

Steward is also the founder of Kingdom Capital, a values-driven private investment firm with a focus on early-stage companies with technology-based health and medical solutions. What is more, the billionaire is also the author of two books — Doing Business by The Good Book, published in 2004, and Leadership by the Good Book, published in 2020.