100+ Most Influential Black Americans

Billionaires Top 2003 List

TWO billionaires and one of the most honored of all African-American business leaders top EBONY's 2003 list of the 100+ Most Influential Black Americans.

BET founder Robert L. Johnson is a new addition to the list, but Oprah Winfrey, whose net worth was recently certified as in the $1 billion-plus range, returns with added clout and credentials. The list also includes John H. Johnson, publishing and cosmetics mogul, who was one of the first African-Americans cited on the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans. They are joined by another major corporate leader, Kase L. Lawal, chairman and CEO of CAMAC Holdings Inc., which was cited as the No. 1 Black business last year with approximately $1 billion in revenue in oil and gas exploration, production, refining and energy trading.

But in 2003, as in the preceding years, the 100+ Most Influential list is about more than money. John H. Johnson, founder-chairman of Johnson Publishing Co., chairman of Fashion Fair Cosmetics and publisher of EBONY and Jet, was inducted this year into the advertising Hall of Fame, along with American icons like David Sarnoff of NBC and Dave Thomas of Wendy's. Winfrey expanded her influence as the most powerful woman in media, adding to her stake in TV production and print media. Robert L. Johnson, who sold BET for $2.34 billion, became the first majority owner of a major sports franchise when he bought the NBA's new team in Charlotte.

The increasing importance of Black executives and entrepreneurs is reflected in the selection of Renetta McCann, CEO of Starcom North America, one of the world's top communications networks, and John Rogers, chairman and CEO of the Chicago-based Ariel Capital Management, Inc., which has been unusually successful in tracking the movements of the turbulent stock market. Bishop Wilton Gregory, first Black head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, was cited along with the leaders of traditional African-American organizations like Bishop John Bryant of the AME Church, Bishop Cecil Bishop of the AME Zion Church, Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam, Bishop Marshall Gilmore of the CME Church, Dr. Major L. Jemison of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, the Rev. E. Edward Jones, president of the National Baptist Convention of America, Imam W. Deen Muhammed of the Muslim American Society, Bishop Gilbert Patterson of the Church of God in Christ, and the Rev. William Shaw, president of the National Baptist Convention. Bishop Gregory, head of the diocese of Belleville, Ill., was a central influence in the Catholic Church's search for a solution to the sexual abuse crisis.

Attorney Johnnie Cochran, who seems to be everywhere in 2003, added new power as chairman of the Harlem Empowerment Zone.

Joining other major political leaders are Speaker Herb Wesson Jr. of the California legislature, and Emil Jones Jr., president pro tem of the Illinois Senate.