Forbes has listed three Nigerians as part of its most powerful, impactful and wealthiest black Americans for 2024.
The three Nigerians, Wemimo Abbey, Tope Awotona and Adebayo Ogunlesi, are all based in the United States.
Abbey, 32, is the Cofounder and Co-CEO, Esusu, a New York fintech startup that helps renters build their credit histories and scores by reporting rent payments to credit bureaus.
According to Forbes, more than 20,000 properties currently offer Esusu’s service and some 1.8 million Americans have used Esusu to record a rent payment.
Awotona, 43, is the Founder and CEO, Calendly, a scheduling software startup which private investors valued at $3 billion in 2021.
At the age of 15, Awotona moved to Atlanta from Lagos where he was born. He studied computer science at the University of Georgia before switching majors to business and management information.
Adebayo Ogunlesi, 70, is the Chairman, co-Founder Global Infrastructure Partners, a New York-based private equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).
In October, GIP was acquired by BlackRock for $12.5 billion in cash and shares, with Ogunlesi remaining chairman and CEO of GIP. Today, Forbes estimates Ogunlesi—who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oxford, a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, and an MBA from Harvard Business School—has a net worth of $1.7 billion.
Others in the list of wealthiest black Americans include Dr Dre, Lebron James, Michael Jordan, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Gary Linnen, among others.
