Black Billionaire Tech Investor Robert Smith Makes Forbes List

Black Billionaire Tech Investor Robert Smith Makes Forbes List

Billionaire tech investor and equity titan Robert Smith was recently named at one of the richest people in the world according to Forbes Magazine‘s newly released 400 List!

Robert Smith, 52, joins The Forbes 400 with a $2.5 billion fortune and a No. 268 spot on the list of the richest Americans. (Another noteworthy point: Smith becomes the second richest African-American after only Oprah Winfrey, No. 211, elbowing aside Michael Jordan, No. 1741 on the global Billionaires list.) Smith is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Vista Equity Partners, an Austin, Texas, private equity firm with $15.9 billion in client assets.

Vista has made a killing— 30% annual returns aren’t unusual—in enterprise software, an unglamorous and fiercely competitive field where a little tough tenacity goes a long way. Smith owns more than 50% of Vista, recently valued at $4.3 billion after it sold a minority stake to Neuberger Berman’s PE unit, Dyal Partners, in July.

Robert Smith recently married Hope Dworaczyk, Playboy’s 2010 Playmate of the Year, in a lavish ceremony on Italy’s Amalfi Coast this past summer. Congrats to him and his new wife….

Anna Webber/Getty Images/Forbes