Short answer: there is no authoritative, current ranking that can prove who the richest Native American or Indigenous person is. Many major businesses are privately held, personal assets are not public, wealth estimates change, and public lists do not consistently verify citizenship in a Tribal Nation or First Nation.
Older versions of this article named entrepreneurs Ken Hill and Tom Love. Both built major businesses and were widely described as wealthy, but both have since died. This updated page separates documented facts from estimates and explains why a definitive number-one ranking would be misleading.
Why there is no reliable richest Native American ranking
- Private wealth is difficult to verify. A privately owned company’s revenue is not the same as one person’s net worth, and ownership details may not be public.
- Estimates change. Business valuations, debts, property and investment values move over time.
- Identity requires care. Indigenous ancestry, self-identification and citizenship in a sovereign Nation are not interchangeable. Powwow Times looks for confirmation from the person, their Nation or another strong primary source.
- Collective wealth is not personal wealth. A Tribal Nation’s, First Nation’s or community-owned assets should not be assigned to an individual citizen.
For those reasons, Powwow Times will not declare a living person the “richest Native American” without current, verifiable evidence.
Tom Love: Chickasaw entrepreneur and Love’s co-founder
Tom Love was a Chickasaw Nation citizen who co-founded Love’s Travel Stops with his wife and business partner, Judy Love. They leased their first service station in Watonga, Oklahoma, in 1964 and grew the company into a large family-owned travel-stop network.
The Love’s account of his legacy includes a statement from Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby recognizing Love as a distinguished Chickasaw citizen and a 2019 Chickasaw Hall of Fame inductee.
Forbes estimated Tom Love’s net worth at $5.5 billion in September 2022. That was an estimate tied to a specific date, not a permanent or audited figure. Love died on March 7, 2023, at age 85. Love’s announced that the company had grown to more than 600 locations by the time of his death.
Ken Hill: Mohawk entrepreneur from Six Nations
Ken Hill was a Mohawk entrepreneur from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory and a co-founder and co-owner of Grand River Enterprises, a tobacco manufacturer based at Six Nations.
APTN News reported Hill’s death in January 2021 and described him as one of the country’s wealthiest Indigenous businesspeople. APTN also reported that he supported Six Nations community initiatives and businesses. Public descriptions of Hill as a billionaire were estimates; no audited personal net-worth statement is publicly available.
Wealth, Indigenous business and community ownership
Searches for the richest Native American often collapse several different subjects into one list: individual entrepreneurs, families, privately held companies, Tribal Nation enterprises and collectively owned assets. Those categories are not interchangeable.
Indigenous business success is also larger than a celebrity-style net-worth ranking. Entrepreneurs and Nation-owned enterprises create employment, build local services, support cultural and charitable work, and exercise economic self-determination. Those outcomes can matter more to communities than an uncertain personal fortune.
How Powwow Times will update this page
- Use a dated estimate and name its publisher rather than presenting it as a permanent fact.
- Verify Nation citizenship through the Nation, the person or another strong source.
- Keep company revenue, company value, family wealth and personal net worth separate.
- Do not assign collectively owned Nation or community assets to one person.
- Correct the page when a subject dies or when a source materially revises an estimate.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the richest Native American alive today?
No authoritative public source currently provides a complete, identity-verified ranking. Any definitive answer would be speculative.
Was Tom Love a billionaire?
Forbes estimated his net worth at $5.5 billion in September 2022. He died in March 2023, so he should not appear on a current list of living entrepreneurs.
Was Ken Hill a billionaire?
Hill was widely described as one of Canada’s wealthiest Indigenous entrepreneurs, but Powwow Times has not found a public audited statement proving a specific personal net worth. He died in January 2021.
What is the richest Native American tribe?
That framing is misleading. Tribal Nations are governments and communities, and their enterprises, land and collectively owned assets are not the personal wealth of their citizens. Comparisons also use inconsistent measures.
Last fact-checked: August 23, 2026. Wealth estimates are dated and may change.
Experience Powwow Culture Beyond the Rankings
Indigenous business and cultural authority are more meaningful than speculative net-worth lists. Travellers and organizations can explore Powwow Times’ hosted VIP powwow experience, which focuses on respectful learning, public powwow culture and relationships rather than celebrity rankings.
20 replies to "Who Is the Richest Native American? What Can Be Verified"
So awesome. NHBP Native American. Nice to see Native American are successful as other Americans.
So if they’re native, how come they look white? Are they from a federally recognized tribe & are they enrolled, or are they just descendents?? To me, you’re only native if your enrolled & have a tribal ID!!
They are both enrolled. One with the Six Nations Haudenosaunee of the Iroquois Confederacy. The Hill’s are a huge family in Six Nations. And Love is a Enrolled Chickasaw Member in Oklahoma.
What does “look indian” mean??
What an ignorant, racist statement.
Nope that is not an ignorant or racist statement. You can blame the U.S. Govt. for that. They were the ones to put legislative policies in place to identify each tribal member with a tribal ID number. According to the U.S. Govt. if you don’t have a tribal ID number you’re not Native American. I advise you to read up on your history of U.S. policies governing tribal groups. We are the ONLY ethnic group that is required to have tribal enrollment numbers. So, now tell me who’s ignorant and who’s racist.
@Roz Carroll, your response is literally one of the best things I’ve read. Ever.
Enrolled so the govt knows exactly who you are. Each to their own but not for me.
Im native American
I’d like to contribute!!
The richest Native Americans are those with close family, good health and enough to share.
It makes me scared for the future. Europeans were once tribal/Indigenous people as well and the tribes had their culture and spiritual ways turned over at the point of a sword. Over time they found ways to survive, called adapting…but in the long run they became the very face of the oppressors that oppressed them. Then they took this disease and spread it over the America’s. Celebrating this wealth isn’t good. As a European descendant fighting to take my ancestors ways back after 2000+ years…the latest flood of wealth is only a sign that the once (and still) oppressed are heading toward an end that my ancestors felt the exact same about. Of course it’s good to see happiness…but at what cost to what is lost.
It’s too bad he can’t share some of his good fortune with. I don’t need a lot. Just a little would help.
Enrolled so the govt knows exactly who you are. Each to their own but not for me. I drove a semi for over 20 years I wish I had known Love’s was owned native.
Being from Oklahoma many of us never considered Tom Love in the true ‘native ‘ category. Maybe enrolled but that’s it. Many Natives consider the Doonkeen family of Oklahoma City as one of the wealthiest and ‘truest’ native families. None of their money came from gaming. I still see Eula Doonkeen from time to time in her native dress at stores shopping. Such a strong impactful Native American women
Very interesting. Thanks Mary for letting us know.
I think it’s great, but why isn’t these rich Natives investing in Natives? Do they have any companies that lend or support new business for other Natives to have a good start to begin there own companies? Economic development is a very important factor that all First Nation’s need to improve our way of life.
Ya they do it through their foundations that they set up. Links are in the article.
My mother was born in wetumka
Oaklahoma I don’t have a Native American number But I sure Know who I ,and who I come from. It’s good to see native Americans doing well It’s been a long time coming
My grandmother and mother would like this
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