African immigrants in the United States come from almost all regions in Africa and do not constitute a homogeneous group. They include people from different national, linguistic, ethnic, racial, cultural and social backgrounds.
African immigrants make a significant, positive economic contribution to the U.S. economy, both at a national level and in districts where they reside.
African immigrants to the US are among the most educated groups in the United States. Reports have it that African immigrants are significantly more likely to hold college diplomas and graduate degrees compared with native born Americans.
Meet some of the most accomplished African born immigrants in the United States.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and Chief Engineer at SpaceX and Product Architect of Tesla. Founder of Boring Company and co-founder of Neuralink and OpenAI. Musk is the wealthiest person in the world according to both the Bloomberg Billionaire index and Forbes' real-time billionaire list.
Date of Birth- June 28, 1971
Place of Birth- Pretoria, South Africa
Net worth- US$267.6 billion
Patrick Soon-Shiong
Patrick Soon-Shiong is a transplant surgeon, billionaire businessman, bio scientist and media proprietor. He is the CEO of Nantworks LLC, Owner of Los Angeles Times, San Diego Tribune and minority owner of Los Angeles Lakers. Soon-Shiong is of Chinese descent. Born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa to Chinese immigrant parents.
Date of Birth- July 29, 1952
Place of Birth- Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Net worth- US$11.5 billion
Adebayo Ogunlesi
Adebayo Ogunlesi is a lawyer and investment banker. He is the Chairman and Managing Partner at the private equity firm, Global Infrastructure Partners(GIP). Ogunlesi is the Chief Client Officer and Vice Chairman of Credit Suisse First Boston.
Date of Birth- December 20, 1953
Place of Birth- Sagamu, Nigeria
Net worth- Undisclosed
Kase Lawal
Kase Lawal is an Oil and Gas Baron. He works and lives in the United State. He is the Chairman/CEO of CAMAC International Corporation, Chairman/CEO of Erin Energy Corporation and Chairman of Allied Energy in Houston Texas, Chairman/CEO CAMAC HOLDINGS, Vice chairman, Port of Houston Authority Commission.He also serves as a member of the board of directors and is a significant shareholder in Unity National Bank.
Date of Birth- June 30, 1954
Place of Birth- Ibadan, Nigeria
Net worth- US$
Tope Awotona
Tope Awotona is the founder and CEO of Calendly. Tope holds a degree in Management Information Systems from the University of Georgia. He is the recipient of the 2021 Atlanta Business Chronicle Most Admired CEO Award and 2019 Comparably Best CEOs award.
Date of Birth- 1982
Place of Birth- Lagos, Nigeria
Net worth- US$1.4 billion
Richelieu and Mary Dennis
Richelieu Dennis and his mother, Mary founded Sundial Brand, a natural bath and hair care product for black women.Sundial brand grew to be the largest immigrants owned cosmetic business in America and was eventually acquired by Unilever for US$1.6billion. Richelieu Dennis and his mother made US$850 million from the deal.
Name- Richelieu Dennis
Date of Birth- February 25, 1969
Place of Birth- Monrovia, Liberia
Net worth- US$300 million
Ikenna Okezie
Ikenna Okezie is the founder of Somatus. Somatus is the largest provider of value-based kidney care in America. Ikenna has an MD from Harvard Medical School, an MBA with Honors from Harvard Business School, and a BA in Economics from Yale University. Ikenna Okezie was named Entrepreneur of the Year for the Mid-Atlantic region by Ernest and Young in 2020.
Date of Birth- November 22, 1972
Place of Birth- Nigeria
Net worth- $250 million
Hakeem Olajuwon
Hakeem Olajuwon, popularly called Hakeem "the Dream" Olajuwon is a former professional basketball player. He played in the NBA for the Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors from 1984 to 2022. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2016. He is widely considered as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. On April 10, 2008, the Rockets unveiled a sculpture in his honor outside the Toyota Centre. He has been busy investing the over $107 million he earned from contracts and endorsements, mostly in real estate.
Date of Birth- January 21, 1963
Place of Birth- Lagos, Nigeria
Net worth- $300 million
Rohan Oza
Rohan Oza is a businessman, investor and marketing expert behind several large brands. He is a founding partner at CAVU Ventures. He appears as a regular guest on ABC's Shark Tank. Oza studied Industrial Engineering at Nothingham University. He also has an MBA in Marketing and Corporate Strategy from the University of Michigan. Dubbed Hollywood's "Brand father" for his high-profile marketing deals with celebrities. Rahan Oza was born in Zambia to Indian parents
Date of Birth- October 2, 1971
Place of Birth- Livingstone, Zambia
Net worth- $200 million
Charlize Therone
Charlize Theron is an actress, model and producer. She is one of the world's highest paid actresses. She has starred in several commercially successful movies. She is the recipient of several awards, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Golden Globe Award. in 2016, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. She has also been honoured with a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Date of Birth- August 7, 1975
Place of Birth- Benoni, South Africa
Net worth- $170 million
Trevor Noah
Trevor Noah is a comedian, television host, political commentator and author. He is best known as the host of The Daily show. Noah has won various awards, including an MTV Africa Music Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. He was named one of "The 35 Most Powerful People in New York Media" by The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 and 2018. Time named him one of "The 100 Most Influential People in The World". Noah's mother was a Xhosa woman from South Africa and his father was a white man from Switzerland.
Date of Birth- February 20, 1984
Place of Birth- Johannesburg, South Africa
Net worth- $100 million
