Richest self made women in the world

Anna Papadopoulos is a senior money, wealth, and asset management reporter at CEOWORLD magazine, covering consumer issues, investing and financial communities + author of the CEOWORLD magazine newsletter, writing about money with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind. You can follow CEOWORLD magazine on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or connect on LinkedIn for musings on money, wealth, asset management, millionaires, and billionaires. Email her at [email protected].

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Forbes magazine annually ranks the world's wealthiest female billionaires. This list uses the static rating published once a year by Forbes, usually in March. There were 328 women listed on the world's billionaires as of 17 March 2021, up from 241 in March 2020.[1] Since 2021, Francoise Bettencourt Meyers is listed as the world's wealthiest woman.

According to a 2021 billionaire census, women make up 11.9% of the billionaire cohort, and "just over half of all female billionaires are heiresses, with an additional 30% having a combination of inherited and created wealth." In the overall female billionaire cohort, 16.9% of billionaires are "self-made" and 53.5% gained their wealth through a combination of inheritance and "self-made" wealth as of 2017.[2]

2021 list[edit]

In January 2021, CEOWORLD Magazine announced that if her family's wealth is included in her total fortune, then Francoise Bettencourt Meyers's wealth is estimated to stand at $71.4 billion.[3]

Hurun Research Institute released its Global Self-made Women Entrepreneurs List 2022 on Wednesday, ranking the world's self-made billion-dollar female entrepreneurs.

The research institute found 124 self-made female billion-dollar entrepreneurs from 16 countries around the world, with an average age of 59 and total wealth of $370 billion.

Self-made women billionaires make up 5 percent of the world's self-made billionaires and have 3 percent of the total self-made billionaire wealth.

The entrepreneurial journey of these self-made women to join the mega-rich billionaire club has been no easy feat! Fueled by a creative spirit and innovative mindset to defy all odds, these pioneers of businesses have forged unique paths for themselves.

From owning cosmetic brands to leading pharmaceutical and software development companies, these women have made a unique mark for themselves while inspiring millions of others across the globe.

As they continue to scale new heights and attain financial milestones one after the other, here are 10 self-made women billionaires from around the world.

Rihanna

Richest self made women in the world
Rihanna at the launch of her beauty brand Fenty Beauty in 2017 in New York. (Image: Courtesy Bryan R. Smith/AFP)

Barbadian singer and entrepreneur Robyn Rihanna Fenty, better known as Rihanna, recently joined the exclusive self-made women billionaire club with a net worth of US$ 1.7 billion. Currently, she is the world’s wealthiest female musician and the second-richest female entertainer after Oprah Winfrey, thanks to her brand of cosmetics Fenty Beauty — co-owned by French luxury conglomerate LVMH.

The staggering success of Fenty Beauty, valued at US$ 1.4 billion, makes up the bulk of her fortune while the Savage X Fenty lingerie company, where she has a 30 percent stake, contributes US$ 270 million to her net worth.

Oprah Winfrey

Richest self made women in the world
Oprah Winfrey at the opening celebration of the Statue of Liberty Museum in 2019. (Image: Courtesy Kena Betancur/AFP)

With a net worth of US$ 2.7 billion, Winfrey amassed a fortune in a pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstrap self-made fashion while overcoming poverty and discrimination, among many other obstacles.

Her career, as the first African-American anchor, began when she was 19 years old. After being a part of a couple of talk shows, she landed a gig to host WLS-TV’s show AM Chicago in 1984, which went on to become the number one talk show in the US.

Her career pivoted and the show was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show, which ran for 25 years, earning her profits of US$ 2 billion. In 2008, her channel OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network was launched as a joint venture with Discovery Communications. She had bought a 10 percent stake in Weight Watchers International Inc in 2015, which has been now lowered to 7 percent.

Whitney Wolfe Herd

Richest self made women in the world
Whitney Wolfe Herd, the CEO of Bumble. (Image: Courtesy Bumble)

In February 2021, the American entrepreneur became the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world, according to Forbes, after the dating app Bumble went public the same month. With an estimated net worth of US$ 1.3 billion, Wolfe Herd has a 21 percent stake in the company.

Along with being Bumble’s CEO and co-founder, she also heads the dating-focused social network, Badoo. As of March 2021, both the apps combined have a 2.8 million-paid subscriber base across 150 countries. Wolfe Herd had begun her journey as a Tinder executive.

Kim Kardashian West

Richest self made women in the world
Kim Kardashian West at the WSJ Magazine 2019 Innovator Awards in New York. (Image: Courtesy Angela Weiss/AFP)

The reality TV star and entrepreneur earned a spot on the 2021 World Billionaires List and ranks 24 (as of 9 August 2021) among America’s Self-Made Women 2021 by Forbes.

Her net worth stands at US$ 1.2 billion, from US$ 780 million in October 2020, thanks to her cosmetics firm KKW Beauty and the shapewear label Skims. Other sources of her income include brand deals, small-scale investments, endorsements and reality television.

Zhou Qunfei

Richest self made women in the world
Zhou Qunfei, the CEO of Lens Technology, during an interview in 2015. (Image: Courtesy Str/AFP)

The founder and CEO of Lens Technology, Zhou Qunfei had to drop out of school to support her family and work as an assembly worker in a watch lens factory. However, she took up accounting classes at night and kept her entrepreneurial spirit alive.

With mere savings of US$ 2,500, she plunged into her first business of making watch lenses in 1993. Over the next decade, the company prospered with its share of ups and downs, and Lens Technology finally went public in March 2015. Currently, her net worth is valued at US$ 13.2 billion, as per Forbes. Her clients include prominent names like Tesla, Apple, Samsung, Huawei, Microsoft, Nokia and LG.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

Richest self made women in the world
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Biocon’s chairperson and Managing Director. (Image: Courtesy Biocon)

The founder, chairperson and managing director of Biocon Limited, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw’s net worth is estimated at US$ 3.9 billion, according to Forbes, and she is India’s richest self-made woman. Shaw forayed into the pharmaceutical business in 1978 and established Biocon with just three employees after she faced disappointment and discrimination in the brewery business.

However, Shaw seized the opportunity and capitalised on the newly-evolving biotechnology market by manufacturing and supplying enzymes to the US and Europe in 1979, which started in a shed in Bengaluru. The company went public in 2004 and crossed US$ 1 billion the day of its listing.

Biocon is now conducting phase four trials of the drug Itolizumab used to treat moderate to severe cases of COVID-19. The company set up its subsidiary Biocon Sdn Bhd in 2010— Aisa’s largest insulin manufacturing plant — in Malaysia.

Radha Vembu

Richest self made women in the world
From L-R: M. Saravanan, Rajesh, and Radha Vembu, the senior managers who have spent close to two decades at Zoho Corp. (Image: Courtesy Zoho Corporations)

In 1997, Indian business magnate Radha Vembu started her career as a product manager at the Indian software development company Zoho Corporation. Currently, she holds this designation even though she heads Zoho Workplace and looks after a team of 250 as well as the products made by the company. Originally named AdventNet, the company was founded by her older brother Sridhar Vembu in Chennai in 1996.

With a net worth of US$ 1.5 billion, she is also on the board of Janaki Hi-tech Agro Private Limited and Highland Valley Corporation Private Limited.

Meg Whitman

Richest self made women in the world
Meg Whitman speaks at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2020. (Image: Courtesy Robyn Beck/AFP)

Whitman enjoys the number third spot on America’s Self-Made Women 2021 list by Forbes with an estimated net worth of US$ 6.1 billion. She parlayed her legendary role at e-commerce giant eBay Inc., taking its profits from US$ 5.7 million in 1998 to US$ 8 billion in 2008, as the CEO of the company.

She served at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (2011 to 2015) as the chief executive and went on to work as the CEO of Quibi (2018 to 2020). She also holds the position of a board member at Procter & Gamble and Dropbox.

Lam Wai-ying

Richest self made women in the world
Lam Wai-ying and others at the University of Hong Kong. (Image: Courtesy City University of Hong Kong via Forbes)

The Chinese entrepreneur co-owns Hong Kong’s Biel Crystal Manufactory founded in 1987 with her husband Yeung Kin-man. With a whopping net worth of US$ 9.1 billion, the primary source of her wealth is the glass screens manufacturer for smart gadgets, which is the largest supplier to major brands like Apple, Samsung and Sony.

She also co-owns the real estate firm High Grand Development with Kin-man.

Wu Yajun

Richest self made women in the world
Wu Yajun, co-founder and chairperson of Longfor Properties. (Image: Courtesy Longfor)

Wu is one of the prominent Chinese self-made women billionaires who had humble beginnings working as a factory worker. However, she went on to become a journalist before co-founding Longfor Properties (now known as Longfor Group Holdings Limited) with her ex-husband Cai Kui in 1993.

Longfor Group’s diverse real estate ventures into commercial properties, rentals, housing agencies, décor services and other similar urban projects in more than 100 cities across China. She currently enjoys an estimated net worth of US$ 14.1 billion, according to Forbes.

(All net worths as of 9 August, 2021)

(Hero and Featured image courtesy: Hector Retamal/AFP) 

Rihanna Kim Kardashian West Oprah Winfrey Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Whitney Wolfe Herd Bumble app Content Hub billionaires net worth self-made women billionaire

Who is the richest female female?

Wealthiest women worldwide as of April 2022, by net worth (in billion U.S. dollars).

How many female billionaires are self

Only one out of six of the world's 556 female billionaires made their fortunes on their own and not through inheritance; 80% of self-made women billionaires made their money from listed companies, according to the report.

Who is the first self

Walker, America's first self-made female millionaire. America's first female self-made millionaire, Madam C.J. Walker, honored with new Barbie doll in 'Inspiring Women' collection.

Who became the 10th richest self

falguni nayar: Nykaa's Falguni Nayar becomes richest self-made Indian woman in 2022, sees wealth grow by 345% - The Economic Times.