Many Igbo men have established themselves in the diaspora. They have founded multimillion-dollar enterprises, pioneered innovations, and become some of the world’s wealthiest people.
As we move forward, we will introduce you to the seven richest Igbo men in the diaspora, showcasing their amazing accomplishments and contributions to the global economic environment.
1. Bennet Omalu
While working at the Allegheny County coroner’s office in Pittsburgh, Bennet found and reported results of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in American football players. According to reports, Bennet was dismissed, humiliated, and disregarded by the NFL after discovering evidence of the deadly degenerative neurological illness that affects retired American football players. His tribulations were documented by journalists and a major movie picture starring Will Smith as Omalu.
The NFL was finally compelled to admit the veracity of Omalu’s findings as his public stature grew. The American Medical Association’s highest distinction, the Distinguished Service Award, was bestowed upon Dr. Omalu. Benet earned a medical degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and worked in Jos for three years before moving to the United States. His career and accomplishments have been documented in the book and film Concussion. According to sources, Omalu’s net worth is as high as $710 million.
2. Chiwetel Ejiofor
Chiwetel Ejiofor is a Nigerian-born British actor, writer, and director who was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours. He played Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave (2013), Vincent Kapoor in Ridley Scott’s The Martian (2015), Karl Mordo in Doctor Strange (2016), and Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness (2022).
The actor was born to Nigerian parents, Arinze and Obiajulu, from Oyofo-Oghe in Enugu State’s Ezeagu Local Government Area. Steven Spielberg noticed Ejiofor and put him in the critically successful Amistad (1997) opposite Morgan Freeman and Anthony Hopkins. He has since appeared in a number of films, notably Stephen Frears’ Dirty Pretty Things (2002), for which he received Best Actor at the British Independent Film Awards. His net worth is estimated to be over $16 million.
3. Augustine Esogbue
Augustine is the world’s first black student to graduate from the University of Southern California with a PhD in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research. He has received widespread acclaim as a systems engineer, philanthropist, and youth mentor. Augustine, a Delta State University graduate, rose to prominence as the first nonwhite member of NASA’s Safety Panel following the in-flight disintegration of the United States Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003.
The Nigerian academic is well-known for his work in “fuzzy mathematics,” “intelligent controls,” and “safety engineering.” He runs a consultancy firm, Aeso Systems, which he uses as a vehicle for acting. He also mentioned that he created the award for Georgia Tech graduate students. Esogbue attended the Federal Emergency School of Science in Lagos as a foundation student. On a scholarship from The African-American Institute, he moved to the United States to study electrical engineering at the University of California-Los Angeles.
4. Obi Ozor
Obi Ozor is the CEO and co-founder of Kobo 360, Africa’s most rapidly expanding digital logistics platform. Obi was born in the Enugu State town of Abor. He was diagnosed with second-stage kidney failure, so he moved to the United States to finish his high school studies.
Obi worked as an investment banker at J.P. Morgan after finishing his education before becoming the Operations Coordinator at Uber Nigeria.
He founded Kobo360 in 2016 after recognizing the need to alleviate the strain of logistics on the country’s SMEs. Kobo360 has used existing infrastructure to provide cost-effective logistics solutions for a variety of SMEs and eCommerce platforms since its inception.
Since 2017, Kobo360 has served close to 442 enterprises, aggregated a fleet of 5882 trucks, and carried 53.9 million kg of cargo through relationships with significant logistics players in the US such as Chisco Transport Group, DHL, UPS, Air France, KLM, and SA Airlines, among others.
5. Afam Onyema
Afam is the CEO and Co-Founder of GEANCO Foundation and was named one of the Top Ten Most Influential Africans in the Diaspora in 2020. Afam, a law graduate of Havard University, turned down various corporate law firm offers to run GEANCO full-time.
GEANCO is a non-profit organization that organizes difficult surgical trips to Nigeria. It also operates an innovative anaemia-fighting program and constructs contemporary maternity clinics to assist poor, vulnerable pregnant women in having healthy kids.He has garnered backing from billionaires and A-list celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie, and Chris Rock, to name a few.
6. Philip Emeagwali
Philip was awarded the Gordon Bell Prize in 1989 for his work on the Connection Machine. A contraption that uses 65,000 computers linked in parallel to build the world’s fastest computer. This computer can conduct 3.1 billion calculations per second, which is faster than the Cray Supercomputer’s theoretical top performance. His net worth is reported to be between $1 and $5 million.
Philip’s software on the connection machine solved a 350-year-old packing problem, which was regarded as one of the world’s biggest unsolved mathematical problems. According to reports, he created the Hyperball computer, which can foresee long-term global warming patterns. Philip, who grew up in Onitsha, Nigeria, won a full scholarship to Oregon State University at the age of 17 to study math.
7. Fat Tony
Anthony Lawson Obi, also known as Fat Tony, is a Nigerian American rapper who has won the Best Underground Hip Hop award three times. Born to Nigerian parents, he began a rap ensemble with his classmates in elementary school and continued to play in bands with his classmates throughout his high school years.
He released his debut studio album RABDARGAB in 2010 and a collaborative album titled Double Dragon with producer Tom Cruz on Young One Records. In 2013, Fat Tony was also named Best Solo Rapper. His net worth is estimated to be one million dollars.
