The mixed fortunes of America’s most profitable feminine entrepreneurs has reached a document $154 billion, Forbes reported this week, up by a couple of quarter from 2023.
To qualify for inclusion in Forbes’ checklist of the 100 richest self-made ladies, entrants needed to have a minimal web value of $300 million — $75 million greater than final 12 months and the best degree since Forbes began monitoring the highest 100 in 2020.
Almost three-fourths of the 100 ladies on the checklist began or co-founded an organization, whereas 22 are chief executives or co-chief executives. A document 31 entrants are billionaires, up from 24 final 12 months.
Eleven new faces joined the ranks this 12 months. Amongst them is singer Katy Perry, whose web value is an estimated $350 million, largely because of the sale of her music catalog in September. One other newcomer is cash supervisor Joan Payden, who launched her agency Payden & Rygel in 1983 and stays chief govt at age 92.
Seventy-three members are richer than they had been in 2023, whereas solely 10 noticed their fortunes decline. Among the many latter is Doris Fisher, co-founder of clothes retailer Hole. She donated most of her artwork assortment, which accounted for a good portion of her fortune, to the Fisher Artwork Basis.
Eleven members of final 12 months’s checklist dropped off the brand new one, together with Anne Wojcicki, co-founder and chief govt of the direct-to-consumer genetic testing firm 23andMe. Shares of the Nasdaq-listed firm fell 95% from their excessive in 2021, and it was vulnerable to being delisted. In April, Wojcicki stated she was contemplating taking the corporate personal, in keeping with Forbes.
California once more boasts the biggest variety of checklist members as residents. Thirty-nine ladies reside within the Golden State, 11 name Texas residence, and 9 members reside in New York.
To compile web worths, researchers valued particular person belongings together with stakes in public firms utilizing inventory costs from Could 3. They valued personal firms by consulting with exterior consultants and conservatively evaluating them with public ones. Forbes tried to vet numbers with all checklist entrants. Some cooperated, others didn’t.
Solely ladies who’ve considerably made their very own fortunes within the U.S. and/or are U.S. residents or everlasting residents are eligible for the checklist. Though not one of the ladies on the brand new checklist inherited wealth, some climbed farther and overcame extra obstacles to get into the ranks. To measure simply how far some have come, researcher gave ladies a self-made rating of 6 (employed hand) to 10 (rags-to-riches entrepreneur).
See the gallery for the 15 richest self-made American ladies, in keeping with Forbes. Ages are as of Could 28.