Dangote Overtakes American Billionaire, Emerges as World’s Richest Black Man, Earns N24trn in Hours

Dangote Overtakes American Billionaire, Emerges as World’s Richest Black Man, Earns N24trn in Hours

  • Aliko Dangote has emerged as the world’s richest black, thanks to his $15 billion earnings in 24 hours
  • The Nigerian billionaire overtook America’s David Seward to become the black race’s wealthiest individual
  • Dangote jumped 100 places to 64th position on the global billionaire’s list due to his refinery’s completion

Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported on tech, energy, stocks, investment and the economy for over a decade.

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, set a new world record on Thursday, October 17, 2024, when he became the wealthiest man globally.

Dangote’s meteoric jump from 161 most prosperous in the world to 64th on the global billionaire index took many by surprise after the Kano-born billionaire earned a whopping N24 trillion ($15 billion) overnight.

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Dangote breaks another record
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote and America's David Seward Credit: Bloomberg/Contributor
Source: Getty Images

Dangote is now world’s richest black man

That move propelled him to become not only Africa’s richest man again but the black race’s wealthiest individual

A recent report by Legit.ng showed that Dangote was second on the list of richest black people behind America’s David Seward, with less than $12 billion.

The Nigerian billionaire billionaire jumped 100 places on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index thanks to his mega refinery.

Dangote predicted his resurgence

The 67-year-old billionaire lost most of his wealth when the Nigerian government devalued the local currency, highlighting the struggle of Nigerian businesses and entrepreneurs.

Dangote confirmed he faced severe challenges when the naira was devalued, wiping off $70 billion of his assets in less than 12 months.

He predicted his resurgence, disclosing that the Dangote conglomerate will earn over $30 billion when the 650,000 bpd-capacity refinery reaches total production capacity.

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Dangote's wealth rises to highest level in history after making over N24trn in 24 hours

Mega refinery to earn FX for Nigeria

He called the refinery an FX spinner for the Nigerian economy, saying the country will become a net exporter of petroleum products.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index data, Dangote earned more money in 24 hours than Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos, the three wealthiest men on earth.

His net worth is now $27.8 billion from $13.4 billion a few days earlier.

He has given South Africa’s Rupert, who overthrew him in August, miles in a gap as Africa’s most prosperous and the world’s richest black man.

List of rich black people

  • Aliko Dangote (Nigeria) $27.8 billion
  • David Steward (USA): $11.4 billion
  • Robert F. Smith (USA): $10.8 billion
  • Mike Adenuga (Nigeria) $6.7 billion
  • Abdulsamad Rabiu (Nigeria): 4:8 billion
  • Michael Jordan (USA): $3.5 billion
  • Oprah Winfrey (USA): $3 billion
  • Patrice Motsepe (SA): 3 billion
  • Jay-Z (USA) $2.5 billion
  • Strive Masiyiwa (Zimbabwe) $1.8 billion

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Dangote's wealth rises to the highest level in history

Legit.ng earlier reported that according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Dangote's wealth rose by $15.1 billion (about N24.71 trillion) on Wednesday.

Before Wednesday, based on Bloomberg data, Dangote's highest wealth level was $25.7 billion in July 2014.

Dangote's impressive performance was evident on Wednesday as he doubled his net worth and recorded the highest wealth increase among all 500 billionaires surveyed.

Proofread by Kola Muhammed, journalist and copyeditor at Legit.ng

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Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Pascal Oparada avatar

Pascal Oparada (Business editor) Pascal Oparada is a Mass Communications Graduate from Yaba College of Technology with over 10 years of experience in journalism. He has worked in reputable media organizations such as Daily Independent, TheNiche newspaper, and the Nigerian Xpress. He is a 2018 PwC Media Excellence Award winner. Email:pascal.oparada@corp.legit.ng