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London-based Zimbabwean Strive Masiyiwa becomes UK’s first black billionaire

London-based Zimbabwean businessman Strive Masiyiwa, 60, has hit another record becoming UK’s first black billionaire.

His £1.087 billion fortune earned him the title of Britain’s first black billionaire on the Sunday Times Rich List, a daily ranking of wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Masiyiwa comes in at number 159 on the list just behind  Viscount Rothermere’s family and Lord Rothschild’s family.

Masiyiwa is the founder and executive chairman of Econet Global, a telcom company that traverses 29 countries in Africa, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Econet group offers mobile payment, broadband distribution and satellite services.

He also owns half of private company Liquid Telecom, which provides fibre optic and satellite services to telecom firms across Africa.

Netflix appoints first African from Zimbabwe, Strive Masiyiwa, to its board of directors

Some of his other assets include stakes in mobile phone networks in Burundi and Lesotho and investments in fintech and power distribution firms in Africa.

Strive Masiyiwa also has assets in real estate, including two high profile properties he bought for $24.5million in New York atop the 29-storey Eldorado Towers, and a £24million mansion, with 24 rooms – including nine bathrooms with en-suite bathrooms.

He sits on several international boards, including Unilever, Netflix (Netflix appoints first African from Zimbabwe, Strive Masiyiwa, to its board of directors) , National Geographic Society, Asia Society, and the Global Advisory boards of Bank of America, the Council on Foreign Relations (in the US), Stanford University, and the Prince of Wales Trust for Africa.

Source: Business Insider