ActOne Group reported $1.4 billion in revenue for 2010. Its founder, Janice Bryant Howroyd, had started the staffing company in 1978 with $1,500, including a loan from her mother. Black Enterprise described her as the first Black woman to lead a company past $1 billion in annual sales.
That is one way to cross the billion-dollar threshold. Others on this list did it through a company valuation or a sale. Those measures aren’t interchangeable: a valuation is an estimate, a sale price belongs to a transaction, and neither tells us exactly what a founder received. The companies’ later histories matter, too. Some continued to grow; others changed ownership, faced financial distress or closed.
Revenue, a sale and a customer base
1. Janice Bryant Howroyd — ActOne Group
ActOne’s $1.4 billion in 2010 revenue placed it third on Black Enterprise’s Industrial/Service list that year. The company had grown from Howroyd’s staffing agency into a workforce-services business.
2. Sheila Johnson — BET
Sheila Johnson co-founded Black Entertainment Television with Robert L. Johnson in 1980. BET became the first Black-controlled company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1991. Viacom completed its acquisition of the network on January 23, 2001, for about $3 billion in stock and assumed debt.
That was the value of the deal, not a disclosure of Sheila Johnson’s personal proceeds. BET continues as a media brand, but the sale ended the founders’ independent control.
3. Kimora Lee Simmons — Baby Phat
Baby Phat started in 1999 as a womenswear extension of Phat Farm. Kimora Lee Simmons led the label as creative director and president, building a streetwear brand for women and girls and extending it through licensing.
At its peak, Baby Phat generated more than $1 billion in revenue, according to Women’s Wear Daily. Simmons described the range of products carrying the label in an interview with The FADER:
I built Baby Phat to be a billion dollar brand. There was a time that I had probably 50 licenses that made everything from baby clothes to lunch boxes to color cosmetics, headphones, fragrances, you name it — it was huge. —Kimora Lee Simmons
Phat Fashions sold to Kellwood for about $140 million in 2004. Baby Phat ceased operating in 2010; Simmons reacquired and relaunched it in 2019. In 2026, she said she received about $20 million or less from the sale. That later account gives readers a clearer sense of how the transaction value differed from her personal proceeds.
4. Rihanna — Fenty Beauty
Fenty Beauty launched in 2017 with a 40-shade foundation range. The broad selection drew customers who had often found few suitable options from major beauty brands. Rihanna developed the business with LVMH’s Kendo division.
Reuters reported that the company generated about $450 million in net sales in 2024. The following year, sources familiar with LVMH’s review of its stake estimated Fenty Beauty’s value at $1 billion to $2 billion. Rihanna and LVMH each held half of the company. LVMH was exploring a sale of its stake; no sale had been completed when Reuters published its report.
Funding brought scale to newer businesses
5. Emma Grede — SKIMS
Emma Grede is a founding partner of SKIMS, which she helped build alongside Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede. The company began with shapewear and expanded into underwear, loungewear and apparel.
In November 2025, SKIMS raised $225 million at a $5 billion valuation, according to Goldman Sachs Asset Management, which led the round with BDT & MSD Partners-affiliated funds. That was a financing valuation, not the amount raised.
Grede has spoken about the value of sharing ownership:
You have to have 100% of something to be an owner, to be a boss, but the reality is 100% of nothing is nothing. —Emma Grede
6. Toyin Ajayi — Cityblock Health
Toyin Ajayi trained as a physician before co-founding Cityblock Health in 2017. The company serves Medicaid and lower-income Medicare patients through clinics, home visits and virtual care. A $400 million Series D in September 2021 valued it at $5.7 billion.
That is no longer the latest measure of the company’s scale. In August 2026, Cityblock announced a $116 million Series E and an agreement to acquire Homeward Health. The company said it served nearly 200,000 members and had $2.2 billion in annualised revenue. That is a run rate, not reported full-year revenue.
7. Iman Abuzeid — Incredible Health
Iman Abuzeid co-founded Incredible Health, a platform connecting nurses with hospital jobs. In August 2022, the company announced an $80 million Series B at a $1.65 billion valuation. The company’s announcement and Fortune’s coverage confirm the funding milestone.
That was Incredible Health’s valuation at the time of the round, not revenue or money paid to Abuzeid. The platform remains active.
8. Julia Collins — Zume
Zume began with automated pizza production before shifting to sustainable packaging. Julia Collins co-founded and co-led the company. SoftBank invested $375 million in 2018; reports at the time put Zume’s valuation at $2.25 billion.
Collins later left and founded Planet FWD. Zume kept operating, changed its business model and shut down in June 2023, liquidating its assets. Its funding and valuation did not guarantee that the business model would last.
The valuation did not protect these companies from financial strain
9. Pat McGrath — Pat McGrath Labs
Pat McGrath introduced her makeup brand in 2015. A 2018 investment by Eurazeo reportedly put its valuation at $1 billion, although Eurazeo’s announcement disclosed its $60 million investment but not the valuation
The company later entered Chapter 11. In April 2026, it completed a court-approved restructuring. GDA Luma took a controlling stake and provided more than $65 million in financing. McGrath remains chief creative officer; GDA Luma now controls the company. The brand continues to operate.
10. Fawn Weaver — Uncle Nearest
Fawn Weaver founded Uncle Nearest in 2017, naming the whiskey company for Nathan “Nearest” Green, a Black distiller whose role in Tennessee whiskey history had long been overlooked. It grew to include a distillery and visitor destination.
Forbes estimated Uncle Nearest’s value at $1.1 billion in 2024. In 2025, the company defaulted on more than $108 million in loans and entered court-appointed receivership. The receiver cut staff and scaled back visitor operations. In July 2026, The New York Times reported that Weaver and her husband had been fired from their company roles, while still owning a majority of the shares. The receiver was negotiating a sale of company assets.
The distinction is important: Weaver had lost her management role, but that report did not say she had lost her ownership stake.
What the Headline Number Leaves Out
The women here built businesses in different sectors and reached the billion-dollar threshold by different measures. ActOne and Baby Phat crossed it through reported revenue. BET’s figure came from a transaction. Several newer companies reached it through funding valuations.
Those numbers don’t settle questions of ownership or durability. Baby Phat’s $140 million sale, for instance, did not mean Simmons received $140 million. SKIMS’s $5 billion valuation accompanied a $225 million raise. Cityblock’s latest announcement reports annualised revenue, while its $5.7 billion valuation belongs to a 2021 financing round. And Uncle Nearest’s former valuation says little about who controls the company now.
The milestones record moments in these businesses’ lives. The later chapters show what those figures leave out: a founder’s share, the terms of a deal, the company’s debt and whether it can keep operating.
FAQs
What does the billion-dollar figure mean in each profile?
It may refer to annual revenue, a completed transaction or a company valuation. Cityblock’s more recent $2.2 billion figure is annualised revenue, not reported full-year revenue.
Does a billion-dollar valuation mean the founder received that amount?
No. A valuation estimates a company’s equity value at a particular point. It does not establish a founder’s personal wealth or cash proceeds.
Why include Julia Collins if Zume shut down?
Zume’s reported valuation exceeded $1 billion while Collins was a co-founder and executive. She later left, and the company closed in 2023. Its history is included because the list covers businesses that crossed the threshold, not only companies that survived.
Does Fawn Weaver still own Uncle Nearest?
As of The New York Times’ July 2026 report, Weaver and her husband still held a majority of the shares, although they had been fired from their company roles and a receiver was managing the business. The receiver was negotiating a sale of company assets.
What should founders examine beyond a company’s valuation?
Who owns the shares, what debt the business carries, the terms of any sale or financing, and whether the company can sustain its operations. Those details determine what a milestone means for the founder and the business.
