- Ajao, AdeyemiCo-founded Base10 Partners, the first Black-led venture capital firm to manage over $1 billion in assetsunknown
- Allen, ByronBuilt Allen Media Group from a single bartered celebrity-interview show into a multibillion-dollar media empire spanning broadcast television stations, cable networks, The Weather Channel, and a controlling stake in BuzzFeed, making him one of the wealthiest Black media owners in American history1961-present
- Allen, ElizaOnly woman listed on the founding charter of the first chartered African American-owned bank in the United Statesc.1840-after 1910
- Awotona, TopeFounded Calendly, a widely used scheduling software platform1981-
- Baker, Henry E.Compiled the first comprehensive list of African-American patent holders; published The Colored Inventor (1913)1857-1928
- Barden, Don HamiltonFirst African American to own and operate a major urban cable television system, building Barden Cablevision into a Detroit-area system serving 120,000 subscribers before selling it to Comcast for over $100 million; became the first African American to wholly own casino operations in Las Vegas1943-2011
- Beavers, George Allen Jr.Co-founded Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company; secured the 500 prepaid policy applications required for its incorporation1891-unknown
- Berry, SimonFounded one of the first Black-owned transportation businesses in Tulsa, including taxi, bus, and charter aviation services1890-c.1941
- Browne, William WashingtonFounded the Savings Bank of the Grand Fountain, United Order of True Reformers, the first Black-owned bank chartered in the United States, establishing the model Maggie Lena Walker, already profiled in this collection, would later follow in Richmond1849-1897
- Burns, UrsulaBecame, in 2009, the first African American woman to lead a Fortune 500 company (Xerox) and the first woman ever to succeed another woman as a Fortune 500 CEO1958-present
- Campbell, Tunis GulicAuthored the first hotel and restaurant management guide published in the United States; later became a Reconstruction-era Georgia state senator1812-1891
- Chenault, Kenneth IrvineBecame CEO of American Express in 2001, the third African American ever to lead a Fortune 500 company, and led the firm for 17 years including through the September 11 attacks and the 2008 financial crisis1951-present
- Church, Robert Reed Sr.Became the South's first African American millionaire, building a Memphis business empire spanning real estate, saloons, a hotel, and Solvent Savings Bank, the city's first Black-owned bank1839-1912
- Coleman, Warren ClayFounded the Coleman Manufacturing Company, the first Black-owned and operated textile mill in the United States1849-1904
- Cornelius, Donald Cortez “Don”Created, produced, and hosted Soul Train, negotiating unprecedented ownership terms that made him the first Black producer to fully own a nationally syndicated television program, which ran for 35 years (1971-2006) and became the longest-running first-run syndicated show in American television history1936-2012
- Cralle, Alfred L.Mechanical ice cream scoop ('ice cream mold and disher')1866-1920
- Dedner, KevinFounded Hurdle, a mental health startup matching patients with culturally competent therapists1978-
- Dennis, RichelieuFounded Sundial Brands (SheaMoisture) and Essence Ventures1969-
- Dickerson, Earl B.Served as president of Supreme Life Insurance Company, one of the largest Black-owned insurance firms in the nation1891-1986
- Freeway Golf CourseOne of the first African American-owned 18-hole golf courses in the United States, purchased in 1967 by four Black businessmen1967-2015
- Fuller, Samuel B. "S.B."Built Fuller Products Company from a $25 loan into an $18 million cosmetics empire with 5,000 salespeople, becoming the era's most influential mentor to Black entrepreneurs including John H. Johnson and George Ellis Johnson, both already profiled in this collection1905-1988
- Gaston, Arthur George "A.G."Built a $30-40 million Birmingham, Alabama business empire spanning insurance, banking, funeral homes, and real estate, then used it to quietly bankroll the civil rights movement — including bailing Martin Luther King Jr. out of jail during the 1963 Birmingham campaign1892-1996
- Gillespie, Frank L.Founded Liberty Life Insurance Company, the first Black-controlled legal reserve insurance company in the northern United Statesunknown
- Gordy, Berry Jr.Founded Motown Records; pioneered in-house production and quality-control systems for music1929-
- Granville, Onie B.Founded the first Black-owned commercial bank west of Kansas City1916-1998
- Graves, Earl Gilbert Sr.Founded Black Enterprise magazine in 1970, building it into the definitive national publication chronicling Black entrepreneurship, wealth-building, and corporate advancement over five decades1935-2020
- Green, Victor HugoCreated The Negro Motorist Green Book, the essential travel guide for Black Americans during the Jim Crow era1892-1960
- Gurley, O.W. (Ottawa W.)Founded the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, known as 'Black Wall Street'1868-1935
- Hamilton, ArlanFounded Backstage Capital while homeless; pioneered a crowdfunding model allowing public investment in a private venture capital management company1980-
- Herndon, AlonzoFounded the Atlanta Life Insurance Company; became Atlanta's first African American millionaire1858-1927
- Herndon, Norris B.Led Atlanta Life Insurance Company for 46 years, growing it from $1 million to $84 million in assets1897-1977
- Hill, Jesse Jr.Led Atlanta Life Insurance Company to become the largest Black-owned life insurance company in the nation; first Black president of a major city's chamber of commerce1926-2012
- Hobson, MellodyFirst Black woman to chair an S&P 500 company; co-CEO of Ariel Investments1969-
- Hooks, BenjaminFirst Black FCC Commissioner; telecommunications policy advocacy1925-2010
- Houston, Norman OliverCo-founded Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company; raised the company's initial $15,000 capital requirementunknown
- Howroyd, Janice BryantFounded The ActOne Group in 1978 with roughly $1,500 and a borrowed fax machine, building it into the first billion-dollar company owned and operated by an African American woman1952-present
- Hughes, CathyFounded Radio One (now Urban One) in 1980 after being turned down by more than 30 banks, and became, in 1999, the first African American woman to chair a publicly traded corporation1947-present
- Ikard, BoseTrusted lead cowhand on the historic Goodnight-Loving Trail cattle drives, credited by rancher Charles Goodnight as more reliable than any other man he employed1847-1929
- Johnson, Eunice W.Founded Fashion Fair Cosmetics, addressing makeup needs of Black women1916-2010
- Johnson, George E.Founder of Johnson Products Company and creator of the Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen Black hair-care lines; built the first Black-owned company listed on the American Stock Exchange (1971)1927-2026
- Johnson, George Ellis Sr.Co-founded Johnson Products Company, creator of Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen; first African American-owned company listed on a major U.S. stock exchange1927-
- Johnson, Joan HendersonCo-founded Johnson Products Company; repositioned Ultra Sheen into the home-use hair relaxer that drove the company's breakthrough growth among women consumersunknown-2019
- Johnson, John HaroldFounded Johnson Publishing Company in 1942 with a $500 loan against his mother's furniture, building it into the largest Black-owned publishing company in the world through Ebony (1945) and Jet (1951) magazines1918-2005
- Johnson, Robert L.Co-founded Black Entertainment Television; became the first African American billionaire1946-
- Johnson, Sheila CrumpCo-founded Black Entertainment Television; became the first Black female billionaire in the United States; founded Salamander Hotels and Resorts1949-
- Joyner, Marjorie StewartPermanent wave hair machine; beauty industry education leadership1896-1994
- Joyner, Thomas “Tom”Built The Tom Joyner Morning Show into the top-rated nationally syndicated urban radio program for a quarter century (1994-2019), then used its platform to found the Tom Joyner Foundation, which has raised more than $65 million in scholarship support for historically Black colleges and universities1949-present
- Keckley, Elizabeth HobbsBuilt a 20-seamstress dressmaking business; personal modiste and confidante to First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln1818-1907
- Lee, JosephBread-making and bread-crumbing machines for commercial bakeries1849-1908
- Leidesdorff, William Alexander Jr.Built America's first Black-owned business empire in Gold Rush-era San Francisco — the city's first hotel, first public school, first commercial warehouse, and first steamship on San Francisco Bay — becoming the first known Black millionaire in United States history1810-1848
- Lewis, Reginald F.First African American to build a billion-dollar company through a record-setting overseas leveraged buyout; co-founded Wall Street's first Black-owned law firm1942-1993
- Little, MabelBuilt a multi-decade hair salon business in Tulsa's Greenwood District after arriving with $1.25c.1896-2001
- Love, Nat ('Deadwood Dick')Celebrated Black cowboy of the post-Civil War American West; authored one of the only full-length autobiographies by a Black cowhand1854-1921
- Malone, Annie TurnboPioneering Black beauty-industry entrepreneur and chemist: developed a line of non-damaging hair straighteners, scalp treatments, and oils (notably 'Wonderful Hair Grower') and founded Poro College, the first cosmetology school and agent-training system for Black hair-care professionals1877-1957
- Mason, Bridget "Biddy"Won her freedom through a landmark 1856 California court case, then became one of the first Black women to own land in Los Angeles, building a real estate fortune worth an estimated $300,000 at her death1818-1891
- McGhee, Norman L. Sr.Founded the first Black-owned brokerage firm in the United States; first African American licensed stock dealer in the Midwest1897-1979
- Merrick, JohnFounded the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, which became the world's largest Black-owned business within its first years1859-1919
- Montgomery, Isaiah ThorntonCo-founded Mound Bayou, Mississippi, in 1887, which grew into the largest self-governing all-Black town in the United States, with its own bank, cotton oil mill, and thousands of Black landowning residents at its peak1847-1924
- Moore, Aaron McDuffieCo-founded the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company; served as its second president1863-1923
- Morton, Azie TaylorFirst African American woman to have her signature appear on U.S. currency1936-2003
- Nail, John EdwardCo-founded Nail & Parker, Inc., the Harlem real estate firm that continued and expanded Philip Payton Jr.'s vision after Payton's death, eventually managing nearly fifty apartment buildings worth $1 million annually, earning Nail and his partner the title 'Little Fathers' of Harlem1883-1947
- Newman, Lyda D.Improved synthetic-bristle hairbrush design for Black hair carebirth uncertain (c.1865-1885)-unknown
- Nickerson, William Jr.Founded the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company after California's existing insurers refused to cover most Black residentsunknown-1945
- Overton, AnthonyBuilt one of the first major Black-owned business conglomerates (cosmetics, banking, publishing)1864-1946
- Pace, HarryFounded Black Swan Records, one of the first Black-owned record labels1884-1943
- Payton, Philip Anthony Jr.Founded the Afro-American Realty Company in 1904 and personally engineered the real estate strategy that transformed Harlem from a predominantly white neighborhood into the Black cultural capital that hosted the Harlem Renaissance1876-1917
- Pelzer, NathanFounded Clinify Health, a data analytics platform for underserved community health clinics1983-
- Pleasant, Mary EllenBuilt a real estate, mining, and boardinghouse fortune in Gold Rush-era San Francisco while covertly running California's western branch of the Underground Railroad, becoming, by most accounts, the first self-made Black millionaire in American history, decades before Madam C.J. Walker1814-1904
- Plybeah, EricaFounded MedHaul, a medical transportation logistics platform1988-
- Point du Sable, Jean BaptisteEstablished the first permanent trading settlement at the mouth of the Chicago River in the 1780s, building it into a prosperous multi-building trading post recognized as the founding settlement of what became the city of Chicagoc. 1745-1818
- Powell, William 'Bill' (golf)Founded, designed, built, financed, owned, and operated Clearview Golf Club in East Canton, Ohio — clearing and seeding the land largely by hand (work begun 1946; first nine holes opened 1948; expanded to 18 holes in 1978)1916-2009
- Price, LisaFounded Carol's Daughter, one of the first African American-owned beauty brands to achieve a national flagship retail presence1962-
- Procope, ErnestaFounded E.G. Bowman, the first Black-owned business located on Wall Street1923-2021
- Rogers, John W. Jr.Founded Ariel Investments, the first and largest Black-owned investment firm in the United States1958-
- Searles, Joseph L. IIIFirst African American to do business on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange1942-2000
- Shady Rest Golf and Country ClubFirst African American-owned and -operated golf and country club in the United States; a nine-hole course and cultural hub purchased and reorganized in 1921 by the Progressive Realty Company, a group of Black investors1921-present
- Smith, Robert F.Founded Vista Equity Partners, a $100+ billion software-focused private equity firm; became the wealthiest African American1962-
- Smitherman, A.J. (Andrew Jackson)Founded the Tulsa Star, a Black newspaper that informed Greenwood residents of their legal rights and documented racial violence1883-1961
- Spaulding, Charles ClintonServed as General Manager and later third president of North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company for nearly three decades1874-1952
- St. John, LillaFirst African American woman to pass the New York Stock Exchange licensing examinationc.1928-unknown
- Stephens, TheoraImproved pressing and curling iron designunknown
- Stradford, J.B. (John the Baptist)Built the Stradford Hotel, the largest Black-owned hotel in the United States; co-developed Tulsa's Greenwood District1861-1935
- Sutton, Percy EllisCo-founded Inner City Broadcasting Corporation in 1971, purchasing WLIB-AM as New York City's first Black-owned radio station, then rescued Harlem's Apollo Theater from bankruptcy in 19811920-2009
- Turner, Viola MitchellRose from cashier-clerk to senior financial leadership at North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, a cornerstone of Durham's 'Black Wall Street'1900-1986
- Walker Shaw, PatriciaLed Universal Life Insurance Company as the third generation of her family to head the company1939-1985
- Walker, A. MaceoLed Universal Life Insurance Company for over three decades, continuing his father's legacy of community investmentunknown-1994
- Walker, J.E. (Joseph Edison)Founded Universal Life Insurance Company, which became the fourth-largest Black-owned life insurance company in the United States1879-1958
- Walker, Madam C.J. (Sarah Breedlove)Built a hair care empire training tens of thousands of Black women as sales agents; recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the first female self-made millionaire in America1867-1919
- Walker, Maggie LenaFirst Black woman to charter and serve as president of a bank in the United States1864-1934
- Walker, Solomon W.Founded the Pilgrim Benevolent Aid Association, which grew into Pilgrim Health and Life Insurance Company, the first insurer for African Americans in Georgiac.1879-unknown
- Washington, Sarah SpencerFounded Apex News and Hair Company; beauty product chemistry innovation1889-1953
- Williams, John and LoulaBuilt and operated the Dreamland Theatre, among the most prominent Black-owned businesses in Tulsa's Greenwood Districtunknown
- Wisdom, AshleeFounded Health in Her Hue, a platform connecting women of color with culturally sensitive healthcare providers1990-
- Wormley, JamesBuilt one of Washington D.C.'s most prominent hotel businesses of the era1819-1884