Black Billionaires: Population Proportion Analysis
To estimate how many Black billionaires there "should" be based on population, we can look at the proportion of the Black population globally and apply that to the total number of billionaires.
Here's the breakdown:
- Global Black Population: Estimates suggest that people of Black or African descent make up approximately 14-17% of the global population. Let's use an average of 15%.
- Total Number of Billionaires: According to recent Forbes lists (April 2025 data), there are around 3,028 billionaires in the world.
If we apply the global Black population percentage to the total number of billionaires:
Therefore, based purely on population proportion, there "should" be approximately 454 Black billionaires in the world.
Recent reports indicate the number of Black billionaires worldwide is around 23.
"The key to WEALTH for BLACKS is being tied to at least 2 linkages of the main-stream IN THIS ORDER: Real Estate or Trades, (Ex., Construction) and/or E-COMMERCE / ADVERTISING (Ex., X / amazon)" - Dr. J. Owens Smith, (R.I.P.) Author of The Politics of Ethnic and Racial Inequality
Please review the following comments from Dr. J. Owens Smith, Professor of Afro-Ethnic Studies, Political Science and Faculty member Emeritus at California State University Fullerton from 2003 at the Los Angeles Black Business Expo. We trust his thoughts will resonate with your spirit and you will Join BAM.eco NOW! too. Dr. Smith refers to BAM.eco founded in 1998 as the, "MISSING PIECE TO THE PUZZLE FOR BLACKS."
“Bryan,
You are now challenging me to move from my comfort zone, i.e., engaging in the art of intellectual masturbation, to putting words into action. This is a habit that most Academicians fall into. We come up with theories, but we very seldom attempt to implement them.
You have developed a breakthrough approach to a process of CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT with BAM.eco, which is tapping into the source, (E-COMMERCE - amazon / ADVERTISING - X) of where money is generated.
In the past, the approach that has been used to initiate a program of community development for BLACKS has been CAPITAL INFUSION which includes: Donations, Sponsorships and Investing.
These programs have consisted of dumping millions of dollars into the BLACK COMMUNITY with the expectation that it would solve the problems. When the programs fail, Social Scientists have traditionally blamed BLACKS for the failure of these programs. It is not BLACKS who have failed, but the programs themselves were not designed to stimulate community development.
"You have developed a model that will eventually lead to the development of the BLACK COMMUNITY. Your ADVERTISING / INTERNET SHOPPING MALL, (like Facebook / Amazon ) COLLABORATIVE, the use of TECHNOLOGY and the DISRUPTION of the over $167 BILLION dollar per year NETWORK MARKETING industry are the MISSING PIECES TO THE PUZZLE to CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT for the BLACK COMMUNITY." - Dr. J. Owens Smith, (R.I.P.)

Click image: Many Black Leaders have led their Followers down the path of "get rich quickly" with NETWORK MARKETING!