David Steward, America’s second-richest Black individual, has witnessed a substantial increase in his wealth over the past few weeks, propelling him further into the ranks of the world’s leading billionaires.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which monitors the fortunes of the top 500 billionaires globally, Steward’s net worth has surged by $490 million in the last 36 days, reaching $5.76 billion at the time of this report.
This significant surge in Steward’s wealth follows a decline earlier this year, as reported by Billionaires.Africa in May. During that period, his net worth experienced a decrease of nearly $1 billion, dropping from $6.17 billion to $5.27 billion between Feb. 20 and May 29.
The recent surge in Steward’s fortune can be attributed to the impressive performance of his holdings in World Wide Technology, a closely held information technology services provider.
The valuation of World Wide Technology is based on the enterprise value-to-sales multiple of three publicly traded peer companies, namely Insight Enterprises, Eplus, and CDW. Steward’s stake in World Wide Technology makes up almost the entirety of his $5.76 billion fortune.
Despite this significant increase in wealth, David Steward still trails behind Robert F. Smith, the founder of Vista Equity Partners, who currently holds a fortune of $12 billion, making him America’s richest Black individual.
According to Bloomberg’s ranking, Steward is presently the 441st richest man in the world, trailing Tatyana Bakalchuk, a Russian billionaire and the founder and CEO of Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer.
In addition to his substantial stake in St. Louis-based World Wide Technology, which specializes in cloud computing, security services, and digital consulting, Steward also holds a $14-million stake in Centene Corporation, a healthcare services provider operating across the United States.
With his fortune continuing to grow, Steward’s prominence among the world’s billionaires remains on the rise, driven by the success of World Wide Technology and his strategic investments in other companies.
