Question of the Day [Black History Month]: There are 14 Black billionaires in the U.S. How many can you name?
Spanning across multiple different industries, how many of America's Black billionaires can you name?
Answer:
- David Steward ($11.4 billion)
- Robert Smith ($10.8 billion)
- Alexander Karp ($8.4 billion)
- Michael Jordan ($3.5 billion)
- Oprah Winfrey ($3 billion)
- Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter” ($2.5 billion)
- Adebayo Ogunlesi ($2.2 billion)
- Magic Johnson ($1.5 billion)
- Tope Awotona ($1.4 billion)
- Tyler Perry ($1.4 billion)
- Tiger Woods ($1.4 billion)
- LeBron James ($1.3 billion)
- Herriot Tabuteau ($1.1 billion)
- Sheila Johnson ($1 billion)
Questions:
- What patterns do you notice about the sources of wealth for these billionaires?
- What types of education or skills might be necessary to achieve success in the industries listed?
- Why is it significant to highlight the success of Black individuals in these industries?
- In what ways does the increase in the number of Black billionaires both highlight and fail to address wealth inequality?
Behind the Numbers (UrbanGeekz):
"Forbes has just released its annual World’s Billionaires list. Overall, there are 3,028 billionaires on this year’s ranking, whose combined wealth reaches a record $16.1 trillion.
Among them, twenty-three are Black, representing 0.8% of the total, with fourteen of these billionaires being citizens of the United States, accounting for 0.5%. This wealthy group of U.S.-based billionaires has amassed a combined total of $50.9 billion, primarily from the finance, energy, music, sports, and technology sectors. Notably, there are two new entrants to this list."
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NGPF's Entrepreneurship mini-unit will give you lots of tools to get your students thinking like innovators and problem solvers!
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About the Author
Dave Martin
Dave joins NGPF with 15 years of teaching experience in math and computer science. After joining the New York City Teaching Fellows program and earning a Master's degree in Education from Pace University, his teaching career has taken him to New York, New Jersey and a summer in the north of Ghana. Dave firmly believes that financial literacy is vital to creating well-rounded students that are prepared for a complex and highly competitive world. During what free time two young daughters will allow, Dave enjoys video games, Dungeons & Dragons, cooking, gardening, and taking naps.
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