Nigerian cement tycoon, Aliko Dangote, is still the richest black person in the world with a fortune estimated at $12.2 billion, the 2017 FORBES list of the World’s Billionaires has shown.
Dangote was among the 2016 top 100 richest people, but this year, he slipped to the 105th spot.
According to the list released on Monday, Mr. Dangote was followed by Saudi-Ethiopian construction magnate, Mohammed Al-Amoudi, who is worth $8.4 billion.
Of the 2,043 people who made it to the 2017 FORBES list of the World’s Billionaires, 10 of them are black, down from 12 in 2016.
Two black moguls, however, fell off the ranks of the richest black people on earth, and they are both Nigerian – oil tycoon Femi Otedola and cement mogul Abdulsamad Rabiu.
Analysts said Mr. Otedola fell off the list as a result of the plunging share price of his oil company, Forte Oil, while a devaluation of the Nigerian currency, the Naira, was responsible for Mr. Rabiu’s ousting.
Investor and daughter of Angolan president, Isabel dos Santos, American media mogul Oprah Winfrey and Nigerian oil woman, Folorunsho Alakija, are still the only black female billionaires on the FORBES billionaires list.
Microsoft Founder Bill Gates topped the Forbes 2017 Billionaires List, the fourth straight year with a net worth of $86bn.
He was followed by Warren Buffett, the chief of Berkshire Hathaway, whose wealth is around $75.6 billion.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos came third, followed by Amancio Ortega from Spanish clothing retailer Zara.
Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg came fifth.
The global billionaire population climbed nearly 13 percent from 1810 to 2043 over the past year.
This annual increase is at an all-time high in the 31-year history of the list, Forbes said. “Their total net worth rose by 18% to $7.67 trillion, also a record,” Forbes added.
The U.S. had the most billionaires with a number of 565, and China came the second with 319 billionaires.
Forbes said there were 195 new billionaires, adding that Mainland China had the most of that number with 76. The U.S. was second with 25.
“Notable newbies include Patagonia sportswear founder Yvon Chouinard; Viking Cruises founder Torstein Hagen of Norway; U.S. hedge fund tycoon Cliff Asnessand two of his partners; and John and Patrick Collison, Irish citizens who co-founded San Francisco-based Stripe, which enables online payments. John Collison, age 26, is now the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, just two months younger than Snapchat’s Evan Spiegel.
The Collisons are two of just four self-made billionaires in their 20s (the other two are the Snapchat cofounders). There are 56 billionaires under age 40, down from 66 last year, after some aged out and others dropped below the $1 billion mark,”Forbes said.
Nigeria’s industrialist, Aliko Dangote is on the 105 spot in the list, with a fortune of $12.2 billion, making him the richest person on the African continent.
He is followed by South Africa’s Nicky Oppenheimer, who is on the 199 spot with a fortune of $7 billion.
U.S. President Donald Trump also slipped slipped 220 spots on the list.
According to the list, Trump lost $1 billion dollars, with his worth dropping from $4.5 billion to $3.5 billion.
That was enough to see the president fall from the 324th to 554th spot on the list.
Forbes pinned his wealth shrinkage on the receding real estate market.
Forty per cent of Trump’s wealth is tied up in Trump Tower and eight other buildings within a short distance of it.
“Midtown Manhattan real estate is down; therefore, so is Donald Trump’s fortune,” Forbes said.
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