World Wide Technology: How David Steward Built the Largest Black-Owned Business in America — and Changed What’s Possible

David Steward grew up poor in Clinton, Missouri. He was the first person of color ever hired by Missouri Pacific Railroad to sell rail services. He became FedEx’s salesman of the year and was inducted into their Sales Hall of Fame. Then he started a company in 1990 with five people and 4,000 square feet — and had his car repossessed from the company parking lot while it was still getting off the ground. He now owns largest Black-owned company America.

That company is now World Wide Technology, the largest Black-owned company in the United States, with $20 billion in annual revenue and over 12,000 employees. It is the 19th largest private company in America. Its clients include more than 80% of the Fortune 100. It holds federal contracts with the Department of Defense, the U.S. Air Force, NASA, and the Army. It competes — and wins — against companies that have had a hundred-year head start. WikipediaWikipedia

David Steward is the wealthiest African American in the world, with a fortune exceeding $10 billion as of 2025. He built it not in Silicon Valley, not with venture capital, not with a diversity pledge from a bank. He built it in St. Louis, bootstrapped, on faith and discipline, one contract at a time. Wikipedia

The business started as a technology reseller focused on government clients. Early funding came from personal savings, small loans, and reinvested profits — allowing the founders to retain private control and long-term focus. That same private, independent ownership structure is still in place today. WWT has never gone public. Steward and co-founder Jim Kavanaugh still control it. MatrixBCG

By 2025, WWT had reached $22.5 billion in revenue, serving over 80% of the Fortune 100 across finance, healthcare, energy, and the public sector. The company has evolved from a reseller into a full-service technology integrator — designing, building, testing, and deploying complex IT infrastructure at enterprise scale. In late 2024 and early 2025, WWT expanded its Advanced Technology Center AI Proving Ground to pilot generative AI and machine learning on high-performance clusters using NVIDIA’s Blackwell architecture, positioning the firm as a leading integrator for AI infrastructure. MatrixBCGMatrixBCG

The federal work is not small. In 2025, WWT was awarded a five-year, $100 million contract with AF CyberWorx for IT transformation at the U.S. Air Force. That sits alongside contracts through NASA SEWP, Army ITES, and GSA schedules covering cybersecurity, cloud migration, and enterprise infrastructure for agencies across the federal government. OrangeSlices AI

Steward has said his guiding principle is simple: “Talent is equally distributed. Opportunity is not.” He’s built his entire company around proving it. WWT’s own success in the SBA’s Business Development Program shaped its vision to offer similar support to other small and disadvantaged firms through WWT’s Small Business and Supplier Enablement program. The company that started as an SBA program graduate now runs its own pipeline for the next generation of businesses trying to climb the same ladder. World Wide Technology

The legacy extends into his family. His son, Dave Steward II, is the CEO of Polarity, LLC, the only Black-owned digital animation studio in the United States. His daughter Kimberly is the CEO of K Period Media, an American film production and finance company. Both have been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for their work. World Wide Technology

World Wide Technology is not a small business that happens to be Black-owned. It is the proof that Black-owned businesses belong at the top of every industry — including the ones that tried hardest to keep them out.

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