The World's Richest Self-Made Women In 2024

Forbes

Women are still woefully underrepresented, accounting for just 369 of the planet’s 2,781 billionaires—or about 13%, the same as last year. The richest woman is once again Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, the Fresh heiress to the L'Oréal fortune. She’s worth an estimated $99.5 billion. The richest self-made woman remains Swiss shipping tycoon Rafaela Aponte-Diamant ($33.1 billion).  Overall, 66% of the world’s billionaires are self-made—meaning they founded or cofounded their company or established their own fortune, rather than inheriting it–down from 69% in 2023. That includes nearly all 17 of the cryptocurrency billionaires on the 2024 list, who have come roaring out of the “crypto winter,” thanks to Bitcoin and other crypto assets trading at record highs.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2024/04/02/forbes-38th-annual-worlds-billionaires-list-facts-and-figures-2024/?sh=32eb225943a6  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00 Here's your Forbes daily briefing for Friday, April 5th.

00:05 Today on Forbes, the world's richest self-made women in 2024.

00:11 It's a rare thing to be a woman billionaire.

00:14 Just 369, or 13%, of the 2,781 people on Forbes' 2024 list of the world's billionaires are

00:24 women.

00:25 In that cohort is an even rarer subset, accounting for just 3.6% of the list, women who made

00:32 their ten-figure fortunes themselves.

00:35 This elite group includes entrepreneurs like Spanx's Sarah Blakely, entertainers like Taylor

00:42 Swift, co-founders, including women who started businesses with their husbands, like Panda

00:47 Express' Peggy Cherng, and hired hands, meaning executives brought on to run companies, like

00:54 former Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg.

00:58 Despite their relatively small number, there are more self-made women billionaires this

01:02 year than ever before, and nearly four times the number there were a decade ago.

01:08 One thing that hasn't changed?

01:10 The group is dominated by women from China and the U.S., with 43 Chinese citizens, including

01:15 7 from Hong Kong, and 30 Americans.

01:19 The richest self-made woman for the second year in a row is Raffaella Aponte Diamant

01:24 of Switzerland.

01:26 She co-founded and co-owns MSC, the world's largest shipping line, and clocks in as the

01:32 world's 48th richest person, worth an estimated $33.1 billion.

01:38 We'll have more about her on the Daily Briefing on Sunday.

01:41 The second richest self-made woman is Diane Hendricks of the U.S., who co-founded building

01:46 materials business ABC Supply with her husband and has chaired it since he passed away in

01:52 2007.

01:53 Hendricks, worth an estimated $20.9 billion, is the world's 92nd richest person.

02:01 This year, 15 newcomers joined the ranks of self-made women billionaires, most notably

02:06 pop star Taylor Swift.

02:08 The superstar singer who wowed audiences with her Heiress tour and her concert film last

02:12 year is worth an estimated $1.1 billion.

02:17 Two other tech newcomers got rich in large part due to AI.

02:21 Lisa Su, the CEO of semiconductor firm Advanced Microdevices, with an estimated net worth

02:27 of $1.3 billion, and Canadian tech exec Michelle Zatlin, worth $1.2 billion.

02:34 Zatlin is the co-founder, president, and chief operating officer of cybersecurity and internet

02:39 infrastructure firm Cloudflare, shares of which surged 65% over the past year.

02:46 Fashion mogul Tory Burch, worth $1 billion, returns to the billionaire ranks after an

02:51 eight-year hiatus thanks to a resurgence in revenues of her namesake fashion brand.

02:57 Other notable self-made women billionaires include Oprah Winfrey, worth $2.8 billion;

03:02 Skims co-founder and reality TV star Kim Kardashian, worth $1.7 billion; and singer-turned-beauty

03:08 mogul Rihanna, worth $1.4 billion.

03:13 Rounding out the top five after Aponte Diamant and Hendrix, at number three is Judy Love

03:18 and her family of the U.S., with a net worth of $10.2 billion.

03:24 Love and her husband Tom, who passed away in 2023, started the truck stop and convenience

03:29 store chain Love's Travel Stops and Country Stores in 1964 with a $5,000 loan from Tom's

03:35 parents.

03:36 Today, the company, owned by Love and her four children, has more than 640 locations

03:42 in 42 states and is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.

03:47 At number four is Denise Coates of the U.K., worth $9.5 billion.

03:53 Coates started Bet365 in 2000, launching an online betting site the following year.

03:58 Today, the company says it draws over 90 million customers from around the world.

04:03 She is the majority owner and co-CEO along with her brother and fellow billionaire John

04:08 Coates.

04:09 At number five is Zhang Weiwan of China, who is worth $7.7 billion.

04:15 The former chemistry teacher turned Asia's richest self-made woman, Zhang traded in teaching

04:20 to start Chinese drugmaker Hansu Pharmaceutical in 1995.

04:25 It produces drugs to treat diseases including hepatitis B and certain cancers.

04:30 She took the company public in 2019 and owns nearly two-thirds of it with her daughter.

04:36 For full coverage, check out Natalie Wu's piece on Forbes.com.

04:41 This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:43 Thanks for tuning in.

04:44 [MUSIC PLAYING]

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