Atlanta, a city where the cars are loud, the money’s even louder, and the women, well, they’re building empires.

From buckhead boardrooms to ban head block parties.

From billion-dollar beauty queens to moguls who flipped a food truck into a fortune, these are Atlanta’s richest black women.

Stick till the end because the woman at number one has built an empire so iconic even Oprah calls her a blueprint.

Rank 10, Keshia Knight.

Pullium.

Hollywood royalty turned empowered investor.

Every generation has that one childhood star everyone remembers.

And for the 80s, it was Rudy Huxable, the pint-sized force of charm on the Cosby Show.

But while millions saw Cesia Knight Pullium as the girl who grew up on America’s TV screens, only a few realized she’d quietly evolve into one of Atlanta’s most purposeful wealthbuilders.

When the cameras stopped rolling, Keshia stopped chasing fame and went after ownership.

After graduating from Spellelman College with a sociology degree, she stayed in Atlanta instead of drifting back to Hollywood.

That decision would define everything that followed.

Over the next decade, she began turning her entertainment checks into assets, investing in real estate across Georgia, founding Pium Family Investments, and producing projects under her own name.

What most people missed was how intentionally she played the long game, producing, renting, flipping, and reinvesting until her money started working harder than she ever had to.

But Kesha’s legacy isn’t just measured in property value.

Through her Atlanta-based nonprofit, Camp Ky, she mentors young black girls on leadership, self-worth, and economic independence.

It’s not a vanity project.

It’s a pipeline teaching the next generation to own their time, talent, and power.

Today, with an estimated net worth around $8 million and a presence that still commands respect on screen, Kesha has evolved from actress to architect, building wealth, community, and opportunity.

She’s proof that Atlanta’s entertainment boom isn’t just about fame and cameras.

It’s about creating a culture where black capital stays in black hands.

And if Keshia learned how to turn the spotlight into equity, the next woman turned a cheeky food truck into a hund00 million movement and built an empire one vegan burger at a time.

Rank nine, Pinky Cole, founder and CEO Vegan.

Atlanta’s food scene has seen its share of hype, but no one, and I mean no one, has flipped the script quite like Pinky Cole.

She didn’t just open a restaurant, she lit a cultural fuse.

Her creation, Vegan, isn’t merely a burger joint.

It’s a movement that turned a food truck hustle into a $100 million phenomenon.

Born to Jamaican parents and raised with hustle in her DNA, Pinky started out in TV production before taking a chance on the food business.

Her first restaurant in Harlem burned down, a devastating loss that would have sent most entrepreneurs packing.

But here’s the kicker.

Instead of quitting, she reinvented herself in Atlanta.

In 2018, with one food truck and an audacious idea, she started selling provocatively named vegan burgers that people couldn’t stop talking about.

Within weeks, her lines were snaking around city blocks.

Customers waiting hours just for a bite of plant-based magic.

It wasn’t just the food, it was the energy.

Pinky made veganism feel unapologetically black, bold, and joyful.

She knew her community didn’t need to be converted.

They needed to be included.

So, she fused soul food flavor with social media swagger, turning what could have been a niche business into Atlanta’s most talked about cultural export.

By 2022, investors caught the scent.

She raised $25 million in series A funding, pushing Vegan’s valuation near $100 million.

But Pinky didn’t stop there.

She built the Pinky Cole Foundation, giving scholarships to H.

B.

CU students, hiring returning citizens, and feeding entire neighborhoods.

And she did it all while making a word that once raised eyebrows, synonymous with empowerment, ownership, and joy.

In short, Pinky Cole represents Atlanta’s entrepreneurial spirit in its purest form.

Resilient, rebellious, and real.

And from plant-based profits to billion-dollar boardrooms, the next woman took $900 and turned it into a global staffing empire.

The kind of quiet power move that changed business history.

Rank 8, Janice Bryant Howid, founder and CEO, the ACT Own Group.

In a world obsessed with tech unicorns and app billionaires, Janice Bryant Howid built her fortune doing something refreshingly old school, helping people get jobs.

But here’s the wild twist.

She did it all without a trust fund or a flashy investor pitch deck.

Her startup capital was a $900 loan from her mother.

Crazy, right? Let’s get into the details.

Back in 1978, when Disco used to rule the charts, Janice opened a staffing office in Beverly Hills with only a single client.

No startup accelerator, no safety net, just grit and a phone line.

What began as a one-woman operation ultimately grew into the ACTON group, a workforce empire now spanning 30 plus countries, serving over 17,000 clients and employing more than 2,600 people worldwide.

Her company’s annual revenue has been reported in the hundreds of millions, even touching the billion mark, making it the largest privately held woman and minorityowned staffing firm in the US.

How did she do it? by betting on something everyone else overlooked, human capital.

She understood early on that staffing wasn’t a side business.

It was the backbone of every industry.

She turned a boring niche into a scalable global machine built on contracts, relationships, and trust.

Her formula was simple but powerful.

Serve both corporations and workers and never stop learning.

Her influence now reaches far beyond business.

Janice sits on national advisory councils from the President’s Board on H.

B.

CU to the Department of Energy’s diversity initiatives.

She mentors, writes, and hosts her podcast Ask JBH, where she drops unfiltered business wisdom that younger founders swear by.

And while her company’s headquarters are in California, her reach extends into Atlanta’s corporate and nonprofit networks through H.

B.

CU partnerships, supplier diversity boards and workforce programs that help thousands of Atlantans build careers, not just jobs.

Janice Bryant Howid didn’t just break ceilings.

She built the ladder for others to climb.

And if Janice made the labor market her playground, the next woman took the entertainment industry and turned it into a global dynasty.

Rank seven, Rihanna Fenty, the billiondoll beauty disruptor.

If confidence had a market cap, Rihanna would own Wall Street.

With a net worth soaring past $1.

4 billion, the Barbados born superstar didn’t just make it big.

She rewrote the beauty rule book and built an empire on inclusivity, attitude, and pure entrepreneurial genius.

Her rise from global pop icon to billionaire mogul started with one question.

Why couldn’t every woman find her shade? That spark became Fenty Beauty, launched under LVMH in 2017, and it detonated the cosmetics industry overnight.

Her 40 shade foundation line wasn’t just marketing, it was revolution.

Within a year, Fenty rad in $550 million in sales, outpacing legacy brands decades older.

Then came Savage XFenty, her lingerie empire valued at over $1 billion, blending body positivity and bold design with the marketing flare only Rihanna could pull off.

And all of this, while her music career has been on pause since 2016, a true mic drop moment in modern entrepreneurship.

Behind the glitz is a business brain sharper than a diamond grill.

Rihanna’s portfolio includes luxury real estate in Beverly Hills, pen houses in New York, and a beachfront mansion in Barbados.

She’s turned her own life into aspirational branding, the perfect blend of authenticity and audacity.

Her Clara Lionel Foundation, named after her grandparents, funds climate resilience projects, disaster relief, and global education.

When she was named Barbados’s national hero in 2021, it felt poetic.

The island girl who went global but never forgot her roots.

Rihanna’s empire proves you don’t need constant visibility to stay relevant, just consistent ownership.

Her wealth doesn’t shout, it smirks.

And while Rihanna turns self-exression into an empire, the next powerhouse proved that the truest kind of influence doesn’t always come from the stage.

Sometimes it’s crafted quietly from the boardroom where the entire culture gets its script.

Rank six, Deborah L.

Lee, the power behind black media.

Before streaming, before social media, and before everyone had a camera in their pocket, there was BET, the single loudest amplifier of black culture on television.

And behind its rise stood a woman whose name every executive in entertainment knows, Deborah L.

Lee.

Lee didn’t become a mogul overnight.

She started as BET’s legal counsel in the 1980s, quietly mastering contracts while others chased the spotlight.

Over time, she rose through the ranks to become CEO and chairman, turning what was once a niche cable channel into a cultural juggernaut.

Under her watch, BET went from music videos to billion-doll network, from late night blocks to prime time dominance, a transformation that made it essential to America’s pop and political narrative.

Her power wasn’t loud, it was surgical.

While others shouted about representation, Lee institutionalized it, building programming pipelines, mentoring black creatives, and shaping the visual language of an entire generation.

When Viacom acquired BET for $3 billion, it wasn’t just a deal.

It was proof that black media could move Wall Street numbers.

But she didn’t stop there.

Today, Lee sits on elite boards.

Marriott, Warner Brothers Discovery, The Washington Post, where she continues to be one of the few black women steering multi-billion dollar corporations from the inside.

And Atlanta, it’s practically her network’s second home.

From the BET Hip Hop Awards to its sprawling event ecosystem, Lee helped make Atlanta synonymous with black entertainment power.

The city’s entire media DNA, its studios, festivals, and production houses, bears her fingerprints.

And if Deborah built her legacy behind the lens, the next woman danced straight through it.

Taking pop stardom, marriage, and motherhood and turning them into a blueprint for business that moves with purpose.

Rank five, Sierra, the pop star who moves like a CEO.

When Kira dropped goodies in 2004, she became the soundtrack of a generation.

Smooth choreography, platinum records, global fame.

But what separates Kiara from most chart toppers is that she never treated music as the destination.

It was just her first investment.

Fast forward two decades and she’s no longer just the girl from Riverdale High.

She’s a full-blown business force.

Alongside her husband, NFL superstar Russell Wilson, Cara co-founded Why Not You Ventures, backing startups in tech, sports, and fashion.

Their foundation, Why Not You Foundation, has poured millions into scholarships, literacy, and STEM education, a mission deeply rooted in Atlanta’s community heartbeat.

She’s redefined what it means to be a celebrity entrepreneur.

Investing in everything from 10 to one rum to fashion collaborations that reflect her brand of confident femininity.

And through it all, she keeps Atlanta in her orbit, returning often for H.

B.

CU CU events, youth empowerment programs, and civic projects that center on opportunity and education.

Her estimated net worth hovers between 20 and $30 million.

But her impact can’t be measured in dollars.

She’s built something more durable.

Cultural credibility with compound returns.

Every brand she touches, every stage she graces reflects a woman who turned rhythm into reinvestment.

Kiara’s journey shows what happens when talent meets intention.

when the choreography isn’t just on stage, but in the boardroom, balancing art, family, and philanthropy with effortless grace.

And while Kiier built her fortune with precision and poise, the next mogul built hers with pure audacity, flipping food, fame, and family into a southern dynasty worth every reality TV minute.

Rank four, Candy Burus and Todd Tucker, Atlanta’s homegrown power couple.

If Atlanta had a royal family for hustle, Candy Burrus and Todd Tucker would be sitting right on the throne.

Crown polished, restaurant keys in hand.

Candi didn’t just break into fame, she wrote it.

Long before Real Housewives cameras followed her around, she was stacking songwriting checks from hits like No Scrubs and Bills, Bills, Bills.

And while most artists burned through their 2000s royalties, Candi quietly turned hers into the seed capital for something far bigger.

A portfolio that now reads like a blueprint for homegrown wealth.

Her company, Candycoated Entertainment, spans TV production, music, and merchandising.

While Bedroom Candy, her sensual lifestyle brand, became a multi-million dollar side hustle.

Then there’s Old Lady Gang, the Atlanta restaurant group she built with Todd, a soulful southern ery turned full-fledged franchise.

Their restaurants don’t just serve food, they serve culture, with fans lining up like it’s a live event.

Todd, her husband, and business partner brought his producers discipline to the table, helping Candy turn her creative flare into structured, scalable revenue.

Together, they’ve blended celebrity, community, and entrepreneurship into something uniquely Atlanta, authentic, profitable, and proudly family centered.

And the real kicker, every venture stays anchored in ATL, from real estate plays across the metro to charitable work that feeds straight back into the neighborhoods that raised them.

Candi’s estimated net worth of 25 to $35 million might be the headline, but her true wealth is legacy.

Kids watching their parents build brick by brick brick in the same city where they started.

But not every mogul starts in front of the camera.

Some build empires behind it.

Turning the cultural pulse of Atlanta into prime time power.

Rank three.

Beyonce.

Nolles Carter.

The global billiondollar blueprint.

Beyonce doesn’t just perform, she architects.

From her Destiny’s child days to her billiondoll solo empire, she’s rewritten what power looks like when the artist owns the narrative, the masters, and the means of production.

Early on, Beyonce learned the oldest lesson in business.

Control your catalog, control your future.

Through her company, Parkwood Entertainment, she didn’t just manage her career.

She built an entire ecosystem that includes music, film, fashion, and global branding.

Ivy Park, her Athlure line in partnership with Adidas became a case study in how celebrity brands can redefine retail without losing authenticity.

And while the world sees her as a Houston native, Atlanta has always been her second creative home.

The city’s producers, dancers, and creative directors have helped shape her sound and visual identity for decades.

From the days of Crazy and Love to the spectacle of Renaissance, her tours pump millions into the local economy, employing hundreds of Atlanta-based stylists, techs, and crew.

Even her philanthropic ventures, including support for H.

B.

CU like Spelman and Clark Atlanta University, tie her legacy firmly to the Black Mecca’s heartbeat.

But the real flex, Beyonce’s empire isn’t just musical, it’s managerial.

She runs her own publishing, controls her masters, and invests in emerging creatives and tech startups through her family office.

Her net worth, which hovers around 800 million to1 billion, comes not from endorsements, but equity.

And if Beyonce built her wealth through rhythm and reinvention, the next woman shaped the very stage that made those rhythms global.

Rank two, Oprah Winfrey, the global empress who still shapes Atlanta.

To talk about black wealth without mentioning Oprah Winfrey is like talking about tech without mentioning Silicon Valley.

She didn’t just break ceilings.

She replaced the roof with glass so clean everyone else could see through.

From the Oprah Winfrey show to OWN network and Harpo Productions, Oprah turned empathy into enterprise.

Her journey from smalltown Mississippi to global media mold reads like a masterclass in emotional capitalism.

monetizing authenticity long before the influencer era.

Her net worth, sitting around $2.

8 billion, comes from decades of disciplined ownership.

She didn’t just appear on screen.

She owned the screen.

Atlanta plays a quiet but vital role in her orbit.

She’s been a major donor to Spellelman and Morehouse, two of the crown jewels of Atlanta’s H.

B.

CU Network, endowing scholarships and leadership programs for decades.

Her philanthropic fingerprints are all over the city’s civic institutions, from mentorship initiatives to film and cultural collaborations.

Beyond philanthropy, Oprah’s influence seeps into Atlanta’s own media identity.

Own productions regularly spotlight southern black life, and her partnerships with creators like Ava Duivere and Tyler Perry have kept Atlanta’s film economy booming.

Perry’s massive studio complex even sits on land once used for Confederate bases.

And Oprah’s investments helped seed the vision that turned it into a modern fortress of black creativity.

And finally, at number one, the woman who helped build the empire Oprah once ruled.

She didn’t just make media history, she turned it into marble and built billion-dollar resorts on top.

Rank one, Sheila Johnson.

From black entertainment to billiondoll estates.

If there’s a single name that captures the full arc of black excellence in Atlanta, from boardrooms to five-star ballrooms, it’s Sheila Johnson.

You might know her as the co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, BET.

But that’s only chapter 1 in a story that reads like a masterclass in reinvention.

With a fortune estimated between $850 million and $1.

1 billion, Johnson didn’t just make history, she remade it twice.

In 1979, alongside her then husband, Robert L.

Johnson, she invested just $15,000 into a bold idea, a cable network centered on black entertainment.

That idea became BET, the first of its kind, shaping the cultural landscape of black America for decades.

when Viacom swooped in and bought the network for $3 billion in 2001, Sheila walked away with a 9 figure windfall.

But while most would have called it a career, but she called it an intermission.

Because here’s the twist.

Instead of retiring in comfort, Sheila Johnson went and reinvented herself.

She took her bet windfall and turned it into something nobody saw coming.

Luxury hospitality.

Her brand Salamander Hotels and Resorts is now one of the most acclaimed blackowned luxury resort groups in the world.

From the flagship Salamander Resort and Spa in Virginia to properties across the US, her portfolio blends art, architecture, and southern charm with quiet power and the Atlanta connection.

It runs even deeper.

She’s a frequent keynote speaker at the city’s black wealth summits, philanthropic gayas, and entrepreneurial forums.

Her resorts attract Atlanta’s elite for retreats and weddings, while her investments in education and civic programs tie her directly to the city’s leadership circles.

She embodies that next generation wealth ethos, one built not on celebrity, but on structure, scale, and sustainability.

Beyond the glamour, Sheila is also a serious investor, part owner of multiple sports franchises, including the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards Wizards, making her one of the few black women with equity in major US sports teams.

Her net worth sits around $1 billion, but her real power lies in her ability to move between worlds, from corporate boardrooms to black philanthropic circles to luxury hospitality suites.

To sum it up, Sheila Johnson turned the glow of television into the glow of a five-star empire.

Proof that when black women build, they don’t just make history, they make hospitality.

And this concludes our journey through the 10 richest black women in Atlanta.

Which one of these money moguls fascinated you the most? Let us know in the comments.

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